pyke v. chambers

[lachlanc]

An intriguing battle of ruck novices, don't you think?

Personally, i think Pyke is worth persevering with, for a little while at least. Disposal wasn't dreadful, looks fit and willing, can jump. Just doesn't know where to run.

Chambers, in comparison, grew up with the code and was a dud when we recruited him.

[Primmy]

poor donuts. He knew he was not in the league, and he exited ahead of time with a bit of dignity. At least he worked hard and did his best, but it wasn't good enough. Nice kid.

Mike Pyke (What were his parents thinking of!) is a babe in comparison, a great big unit, with attitude and willingness and probably talent, and absolutely no experience in this type of game, not like Tadgh who had Gaelic as a base. However he is b****y quick, and competitive, and who knows what is going to happen. Something to keep the R&Wers argumentative for some time to come.

[Glenn]

Pyke is going to take time to devlop, it is not like Sydney have gone and purchased a ready made ruckman so any comparisons to those that have played AFL is like comparing Apples and Oranges.

[ShockOfHair]

Pyke was never going to have a big game against Port. The idea was to give him game time because he badly needs it.

He's worth persevering with, but it begs the question - who will be our second ruckman in round one. Orreal hardly has any more experience.

[ugg]

Pyke in right position to grab ruck spot - realfooty.com.au

CANADIAN Mike Pyke appears well positioned to win the race to be back-up ruckman to Darren Jolly in Sydney's season opener and create dual-code history, after playing his first game of AFL yesterday in Canberra.

[573v30]

Surely Roosy won't consider it, but then again he played Torture for about half a season.

[FootyontheBrain]

Hardly worth comparing the two. Give him half a dozen games and watch how much he improves.

[cruiser]

They should play Pyke in every pre season game, then not consider him again until he is ready to play senior AFL - or our first NAB Cup game in 2010.

[Captain]

Jessie White must be our 2nd ruckman. Wasting time playing him down back.

[sprite]

He probably learned more from that game than he would in 5 or 6 reserves games.

So it's worthwhile giving him time during the preseason.

[Plugger46]

Jessie White must be our 2nd ruckman. Wasting time playing him down back.

Looked a bit better forward though.

[BSA5]

Pyke has already shown more than Chambers ever did. Pyke has a fantastic build for AFL footy, great athleticism, and didn't look out of place on the field either (which he easily could have). I'm happy with persevering with him. Hell, if Currie doesn't come up, and he improves over the NAB Challenge matches, he could be a Round 1 player, but that's highly unlikely. You never know, though.

[ScottH]

Jessie White must be our 2nd ruckman. Wasting time playing him down back.

Looked a bit better forward though.

Maybe he's learning to be a forward, by playing on forwards.
Been done before.

[Bear]

At the moment he's a liability, as you would fully expect when someone first tries to learn the most difficult football code.

One example is his first kick where he simply got the ball, panicked and slammed it on the boot. That would have been ok in the 1960s but not now. Port immediately gained possession and kicked it back to the danger zone, marked and scored.

Nowhere near ready to play AFL at this stage but great to see him getting some game time because he needs about 2 seasons to learn the game and develop his skills. By then I think Oreal and Currie will be ready for the ruck though. Hopefully he gets there and can play a role - perhaps as a spare parts utility in key positions and ruck.

[Dalai Lama]

the gas

poor old Gas Chambers was on the nose.
The Pykelet just needs maple syrup?