Michael Pyke

[Go Swannies]

The 'feelgood squad' will back this guy, but he is very unlilkely to make it as an AFL footballer.

Unlike the rugby codes, Australian football is 3-dimensional and requires every skill in the book... and most importantly a football brian which you mainly develop in junior football.

So Jesse White is doomed too?

[Mr Magoo]

So Jesse White is doomed too?

Does this mean we should consider recruiting promising soccer players ? Its a three dimensional game that requires good foot skills!

AFL isnt some mystical game that no one could possibly grasp unless they played it from birth. Some people are just naturally talented at all sports. It may mean that not playing it from junior level means they wont be the next Chris Judd but it doesnt mean they will fail altogether. This guy has had less than a year in the game and we are dooming him to failure. I dont think the swans even would have expected him to be an option this year so it has been a pretty steep learning curve.

[liz]

AFL isnt some mystical game that no one could possibly grasp unless they played it from birth. Some people are just naturally talented at all sports. It may mean that not playing it from junior level means they wont be the next Chris Judd but it doesnt mean they will fail altogether. This guy has had less than a year in the game and we are dooming him to failure. I dont think the swans even would have expected him to be an option this year so it has been a pretty steep learning curve.

Indeed, the evidence indicates quite the opposite. The number of players who have taken up AFL relatively late in their lives (ie mid to late teens) and become highly effective players puts pay to the fact that you have to have played it from a young age to ever be any good.

[BSA5]

So Jesse White is doomed too?

Goodes was a soccer player for most of his junior years...

[Bear]

So Jesse White is doomed too?

No, mid to late teens is a very different age from mid to late 20s. Just ask the recruiters.

[BSA5]

No, mid to late teens is a very different age from mid to late 20s. Just ask the recruiters.

Of course it is. I was being facetious.

None of this changes the fact that Pyke has shown incredible adaptability to the game. He is doing as well as you'd expect any first year ruckman to do. He will never be a superstar (more's the pity, imagine if he HAD grown up with the game!), but he's showing signs of being a solid enough player.

[Bear]

Of course it is. I was being facetious.

None of this changes the fact that Pyke has shown incredible adaptability to the game. He is doing as well as you'd expect any first year ruckman to do. He will never be a superstar (more's the pity, imagine if he HAD grown up with the game!), but he's showing signs of being a solid enough player.

He has some areas where he is competent and even good. But is being horribly exposed in others.

In 20010/11/12 do we play him at the expense of developing other young ruckmen? When others develop what do we do with Pyke?

I just can't see a happy ending here.

[BSA5]

He has some areas where he is competent and even good. But is being horribly exposed in others.

In 20010/11/12 do we play him at the expense of developing other young ruckmen? When others develop what do we do with Pyke?

I just can't see a happy ending here.

If others develop we treat him like any other player: if there's room for him, keep him, if there's not, dump him. It's really not all that complicated. Fact is that at the moment, he's our best second ruck option, and has been quite a handy foil. Admittedly had a bad game last week, but had a very respectable game in his previous outing.

I honestly don't know where you're coming from. Every inexperienced ruckman is going to be exposed in some areas while excelling in others, unless you get freakishly lucky. Pyke is on a development curve. Remember that. HE IS DEVELOPING. Your point about 2010/11/12 just doesn't seem to make any sense to me. You'd treat him pretty much the same as you would any player. Don't see the issue.

[Armchair Coach]

At the halfway mark of next season, we'll wonder what the Swans were like without him.

[Bear]

If others develop we treat him like any other player: if there's room for him, keep him, if there's not, dump him. It's really not all that complicated. Fact is that at the moment, he's our best second ruck option, and has been quite a handy foil. Admittedly had a bad game last week, but had a very respectable game in his previous outing.

Not sure what you mean by very respectable, but he has been woefully out of position defensively and provided little in the way of midfield or forward possessions. You can't gloss over the cracks with a few handy ruck taps.

I honestly don't know where you're coming from.

I think it's called expresing an opinion on a fan site. It's really not all that complicated.

[johnno]

Yes, but at the moment he's moving at record pace. He was rather ordinary today (though at the game didn't seem nearly as bad as people are saying), but you only have to look at how far he has come since that NAB Cup match against Port to see that there's a fair bit of hope yet.

And the unfortunate fact is that with Currie injured and Orreal a beanpole (and not much more experienced in the game than Pyke anyway), we don't have any other options. LRT is not a ruckman, we need him in defence, especially with Ted injured. Those saying that it's ridiculous Pyke is in the side, come up with better solution.

Throw Goodes in the ruck.

[magic.merkin]

I don't think we want our most gifted and versatile player jumping into the biggest player on the ground as he gets older....

[BSA5]

Not sure what you mean by very respectable, but he has been woefully out of position defensively and provided little in the way of midfield or forward possessions. You can't gloss over the cracks with a few handy ruck taps.

I think it's called expresing an opinion on a fan site. It's really not all that complicated.

I am well aware you're expressing an opinion. Your opinion simply didn't seem to bear any relevance to, well, anything. Seems this may have been a touch too complicated.

You seem to expect first year ruckmen to come into the side and dominate from day one. If you look at his performances he is doing as well as most ruckmen in their first four games. Yes, he gets out-positioned and sometimes looks a little lost out there. But his tapwork is good, he is structurally very important, he is progressing at an insane pace, and he is has a physical presence that the opposition is aware of. He is currently our best option, and he will only get better. How high is the ceiling? Tough to tell. Could be temperamental gun, could be not much higher than it is now. Depends on how smart he is, how professional he is (seems beyond doubt that his professionalism is incredible, from everything we've heard), and how much he wants to play. But he's a rookie right now, and not costing anything of significance, and at the moment we actually need him, flawed as his game is. For a guy that is still learning the game and has been for under a year to be able to go out and actually impact games at the highest level (I know he was @@@@ against Melbourne, but he was quite good against Essendon) is incredibly impressive, and shows he's worth some time and effort.

[swansrob]

i'm a pyke fan.
if he works over the off season on his skills and gets his confidence up - he could be a gun - no doubt.

[Go Swannies]

I don't get this. We finally have a trainee ruckman who isn't a young giraffe who is only likely to feature on the long term injury list - and people here only give him a handful of games to prove himself. I remember when Jolly and Cox were crap but still got a game every week.

In Mike Pike we have an athlete who has the speed and skill to make the All Blacks look stupid but many think he's likely to fail because he missed the AusKick program in Moose Jaw or Regina or Tutoyuktuk or wherever.

There's always an element of risk in every recruitment and that's especially true for ruckmen. Pike is seriously a year ahead of where I expected him to be and apparently he has the desire and application to work hard and get better. I'd be happy if we got rid of every lazy sod (up to and including Goodes) if needs be and get a bunch of keen footballers who can be trained to try and win. Then we'd get back to the team of a few years ago - or where the Cats and Saints are. Remember when the Cats were unmotivated losers (2006) and the Saints were a bunch of draft pick "stars" who only played for themselves? Pike is built like the proverbial brick s/h (or Plugger) and adds a much needed mature body in a young team. With luck he'll be a Premiership Player for us.