Donald Lachlan Pyke (born 5 December 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who is an assistant coach at the Sydney Swans. He was formerly the senior coach of the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Footbal ...

from 1989 to 1996. Pyke was the first United States born player in the Australian Football League and played more games and kicked more goals than any other American born player in the history of the league with 132 games and 97 goals. Pyke was recruited by the

Claremont Football Club The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are ...

for the 1987 WAFL season, playing in a premiership in his first season and winning the club's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award in his second season. This led to his recruitment by West Coast, who selected him prior to the 1988 National Draft. Pyke spent eight seasons at the club, playing in premiership sides in both 1992 and 1994, and sharing the Club Champion Award with

Glen Jakovich Glen Darren Jakovich (born 24 March 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Jakovich was recruited from South Fremantle in the West Australian Football Leag ...

in 1993. After retiring from playing, Pyke was the senior coach of Claremont from 1999 to 2000. He became served as an assistant coach at Adelaide in 2005 and 2006, and later rejoined West Coast as a strategy coach at the end of the

2013 AFL season The 2013 AFL season was the 117th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured ei ...

, under Adam Simpson. He was appointed senior coach of Adelaide in October 2015, replacing Phil Walsh. He coached the team to the 2017 AFL Grand Final, in which they were defeated by Richmond.

Early life

Pyke was born to Frank Pyke and his wife, Janet, on 5 December 1968, in Bloomington,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. His father, who had previously played for in the WAFL, was teaching at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

, having moved to the United States in 1966 to attend

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

.Where are they now?: Frank Pyke
– footygoss.com. Posted 29 April 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2011. Pyke's other brothers, Stephen and James Pyke, who later played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, had been born in Australia. Pyke and his family returned to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

in 1972, after his father accepted a role at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. The family again moved in 1977, to Canberra, where his father had accepted a role as Head of the Centre for Sports Studies at the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

. Pyke excelled at junior level at both football and cricket, playing for the Belconnen Football Club and representing the ACT cricket team at under-16 and under-19 level.

WAFL and cricket

Pyke was recruited by Claremont for the 1987 season, and played in the club's premiership win over . He also represented the Western Australia under-19 cricket team in two matches at the 1987–88 Australian Under-19 Championships, playing alongside future

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

ers

Brendan Julian Brendon Paul Julian (born 10 August 1970) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 7 Tests and 25 ODIs from 1993 to 1999. He was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1989. Standing at 6' 5", he was a dangerous left-ar ...

and Alan Mullally. After winning Claremont's

award (the E. B. Cook Medal) in 1988, playing mainly as an attacking rover, Pyke was recruited by West Coast with a pre-draft selection in the 1988 VFL Draft. He was one of five pre-draft selections, with the others including future premiership players

Peter Sumich Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Craig Turley Craig Turley (born 24 August 1965) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played with West Coast in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the early 1990s. Turley had his best season in 1991 where he finished second behind Jim Stynes ...

and Scott Watters.

AFL career

Making his debut in round one of the 1989 season, against at the

WACA Ground The WACA (formally the WACA Ground) is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association. The WACA has been referred to as Wester ...

, Pyke played 16 consecutive games before being dropped after a nine-possession game in round 16 against . Due to injury and poor form, he only played four games in the 1990 season, under new coach

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, Malthous ...

. In the round two game against , Pyke kicked three goals, a career high. Pyke was later developed into a player more renowned for his defensive skills. He was selected to represent NSW/ACT at the

1993 State of Origin Championships The 1993 State of Origin Championships, known formally as the CUB AFL State of Origin championship, was the last Australian rules football series held involving representative teams of all Australian states. It was the first and last such tou ...

. He was a member of the Eagles'

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

-losing side and played in both the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

premiership sides. Pyke was knocked out by Gary Ablett in the early stages of the 1992 grand final, but returned to play an important role in the win. Playing mainly as a tagger, he tied with

for the 1993 Club Champion Award, also earning seven

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

votes, and was runner-up in the best and fairest to Jakovich the next year. A shoulder injury forced his premature retirement from playing in 1996, although he returned to play in Claremont's 1996 premiership side.

Post-playing career and administration career

After his retirement, Pyke continued his involvement with West Coast, serving as team runner in 1997 and 1998. He would later become a director at the club from 2001 to 2004, and was rewarded with life membership in 2003.

Coaching career

Early career

In 1999, Pyke became the senior coach of Claremont until his resignation in 2000.

Adelaide Football Club assistant coach (2005–2006)

Pyke became an assistant coach under senior coach

Neil Craig Neil Passmore Craig (born 11 January 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Norwood Football Club, Sturt Football Club and the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). H ...

at Adelaide, whom he had previously interviewed for the Eagles' job. In late 2006, Pyke resigned as Adelaide's assistant coach after two seasons to return to Western Australia, and concentrate on his business.

West Coast Eagles assistant coach (2013–2015)

In October 2013, he was made an assistant coach at West Coast under the new senior coach Adam Simpson, specialising in "strategy, stoppages, and structure".

Adelaide Football Club senior coach (2015–2019)

On 9 October 2015, Pyke was appointed as the senior coach of the

, succeeding caretaker senior coach

Scott Camporeale Scott Camporeale (born 11 August 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and Essendon in the Australian Football League, and coached the Adelaide Football Club in an interim capacity of caretaker senior coach ...

who succeeded the late Phil Walsh who was murdered midway through the

2015 AFL season The 2015 AFL season was the 119th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured ei ...

. The Crows made the semi-finals in his first season as coach but were defeated by the Sydney Swans. In 2017 Pyke coached the Crows to their second McClelland Trophy and led them to their first

AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victo ...

since 1998, where they were defeated by by 48 points. On 12 September 2019, Pyke resigned as senior coach of the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

. Pyke was then replaced by

Matthew Nicks Matthew Nicks (born 13 May 1975) is a former professional Australian Football League player and currently the senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club. He was recruited from the West Adelaide Football Club to the Sydney Swans with the 21st ...

as senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club.

Sydney Swans assistant coach (2020–present)

In October 2020, it was announced that Pyke would join the Sydney Swans as an assistant coach under senior coach

John Longmire John Longmire (born 31 December 1970) is the current coach of the Sydney Swans. As a player, he represented the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1999. Early years Longmire was born in Corowa, ...

from the 2021 season.

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 16 , , 14 , , 15 , , 194 , , 67 , , 261 , , 52 , , 17 , , 0.9 , , 0.9 , , 12.1 , , 4.2 , , 16.3 , , 3.3 , , 1.1 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1990 , style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 4 , , 3 , , 6 , , 39 , , 21 , , 60 , , 0 , , 5 , , 0.8 , , 1.5 , , 9.8 , , 5.3 , , 15.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , , 0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 24 , , 4 , , 11 , , 301 , , 94 , , 395 , , 49 , , 39 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 12.5 , , 3.9 , , 16.5 , , 2.0 , , 1.6 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 12 , , 9 , , 3 , , 133 , , 65 , , 198 , , 24 , , 17 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 11.1 , , 5.4 , , 16.5 , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , 0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 22 , , 12 , , 6 , , 352 , , 112 , , 464 , , 100 , , 42 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 16.0 , , 5.1 , , 21.1 , , 4.5 , , 1.9 , , 7 , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 13 , , 10 , , 392 , , 114 , , 506 , , 98 , , 48 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 15.7 , , 4.6 , , 20.2 , , 3.9 , , 1.9 , , 5 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 21 , , 15 , , 6 , , 255 , , 111 , , 366 , , 50 , , 37 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 12.1 , , 5.3 , , 17.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.8 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 8 , , 0 , , 1 , , 64 , , 36 , , 100 , , 19 , , 13 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.0 , , 4.5 , , 12.5 , , 2.4 , , 1.6 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 132 ! 70 ! 58 ! 1730 ! 620 ! 2350 ! 392 ! 218 ! 0.5 ! 0.4 ! 13.1 ! 4.7 ! 17.8 ! 3.0 ! 1.7 ! 13

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyke, Don 1968 births Living people VFL/AFL players born outside Australia Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Claremont Football Club coaches Claremont Football Club players American emigrants to Australia American players of Australian rules football Adelaide Football Club coaches Sportspeople from Bloomington, Illinois John Worsfold Medal winners West Coast Eagles administrators West Coast Eagles players West Coast Eagles Premiership players Cricketers from Perth, Western Australia Allies State of Origin players Belconnen Football Club players Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory