| Don Pyke | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Pyke in April 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Donald Lachlan Pyke | ||
| Born | (1968-12-05)5 December 1968 (age 56) Bloomington, Illinois, U.S. | ||
| Original team | Belconnen | ||
| Draft | No. 2,1988 pre-draft selection | ||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Playing career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1987–1996 | Claremont | 63 (90) | |
| 1989–1996 | West Coast | 132 (70) | |
| Total | 195 (160) | ||
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1999–2000 | Claremont (WAFL) | 39 (23–16–0) | |
| 2016–2019 | Adelaide (AFL) | 93 (56–36–1) | |
3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 23, 2019. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
Club
Coaching
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Donald Lachlan Pyke (born 5 December 1968) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who is the CEO of theWest Coast Eagles in theAustralian Football League (AFL). Pyke was the first American-born player in the AFL, playing for West Coast from 1989 to 1996. He would later serve as senior coach of theAdelaide Football Club from 2016 to 2019.
Pyke was recruited by theClaremont Football Club for the1987 WAFL season, playing in a premiership in his first season and winning the club'sbest and fairest award in his second season. This led to his recruitment by West Coast, who selected him prior to the1988 National Draft. Pyke spent eight seasons at the club, playing in premiership sides in both 1992 and 1994, and sharing theClub Champion Award withGlen Jakovich in 1993.
After retiring from playing, Pyke was the senior coach of Claremont from 1999 to 2000. He served as an assistant coach at Adelaide in 2005 and 2006, and later rejoined West Coast as a strategy coach at the end of the2013 AFL season, underAdam Simpson. He was appointed senior coach of Adelaide in October 2015, replacingPhil Walsh. He coached the team to the2017 AFL Grand Final, in which they were defeated byRichmond.
Pyke was born toFrank Pyke and his wife, Janet, on 5 December 1968, inBloomington,Illinois. His father, who had previously played forPerth in the WAFL, was teaching atIllinois State University, having moved to the United States in 1966 to attendIndiana University.[1] Pyke's other brothers, Stephen andJames Pyke, who later playedcricket forSouth Australia, had been born in Australia. Pyke and his family returned toWestern Australia in 1972, after his father accepted a role at theUniversity of Western Australia. The family again moved in 1977, toCanberra, where his father had accepted a role as Head of the Centre for Sports Studies at theUniversity of Canberra. Pyke excelled at junior level at both football and cricket, playing for theBelconnen Football Club and representing theACT cricket team at under-16 and under-19 level.[2]
Pyke was recruited by Claremont for the1987 season, and played in the club'spremiership win overSubiaco. He also represented the Western Australia under-19 cricket team in two matches at the 1987–88 Australian Under-19 Championships, playing alongside futureTest cricketersBrendan Julian andAlan Mullally.[3] Pyke won Claremont'sbest and fairest award (the E. B. Cook Medal) in 1988, playing mainly as an attacking rover.
Pyke was recruited byWest Coast Eagles with a pre-draft selection in the1988 VFL Draft. He was one of five pre-draft selections, with the others including future premiership playersPeter Sumich,Craig Turley andScott Watters. Making his debut in round one of the1989 season, againstEssendon at theWACA Ground, Pyke played 16 consecutive games before being dropped after a nine-possession game in round 16 againstSydney. Due to injury and poor form, he only played four games in the1990 season, under new senior coachMick Malthouse. In the round two game againstSt Kilda, Pyke kicked three goals, a career high.[4] Pyke was later developed into a player more renowned for his defensive skills. He was selected to represent NSW/ACT at the1993 State of Origin Championships. He was a member of the Eagles'Grand Final-losing side and played in both the1992 and1994 premiership sides. Pyke was knocked out byGary 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 withGlen Jakovich for the 1993Club Champion Award, also earning sevenBrownlow Medal votes, and was runner-up in the best and fairest to Jakovich the next year.[5] A shoulder injury forced his premature retirement from playing in 1996, although he returned to play in Claremont's 1996 premiership side.[6]
Pyke played for West Coast Eagles from 1989 until 1996 for a total of 132 games and kicked a total of 70 goals. Pyke was also a member of the1992 and1994 premiership sides.[7]
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,[8] and was rewarded with life membership in 2003.[9]
In 1999, Pyke became the senior coach of Claremont until his resignation in 2000.
Pyke became an assistant coach under senior coachNeil Craig at Adelaide, whom he had previously interviewed for the Eagles' job.[10] In late 2006, Pyke resigned as Adelaide's assistant coach after two seasons to return to Western Australia, and concentrate on his business.[11]
In October 2013, he was made an assistant coach atWest Coast Eagles, when he returned to his old playing club under the new senior coachAdam Simpson, specialising in "strategy, stoppages, and structure".[12]
On 9 October 2015, Pyke was appointed as the senior coach of theAdelaide Football Club, succeeding caretaker senior coachScott Camporeale who succeeded the latePhil Walsh who was murdered midway through the2015 AFL season.[13][14] The Crows made the semi-finals in his first season as coach but were defeated by theSydney Swans. In 2017 Pyke coached the Crows to their secondMcClelland Trophy and led them to their firstAFL Grand Final since 1998, where they were defeated byRichmond by 48 points. On 12 September 2019, Pyke resigned as senior coach of theAdelaide Crows.[15][16][17][18] Pyke was then replaced byMatthew Nicks as senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club.
In October 2020, it was announced that Pyke would join theSydney Swans as an assistant coach under senior coachJohn Longmire from the 2021 season.[19]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 1989 | West Coast | 1 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 194 | 67 | 261 | 52 | 17 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 12.1 | 4.2 | 16.3 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 1990 | West Coast | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 39 | 21 | 60 | 0 | 5 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 9.8 | 5.3 | 15.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 1991 | West Coast | 10 | 24 | 4 | 11 | 301 | 94 | 395 | 49 | 39 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 12.5 | 3.9 | 16.5 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0 |
| 1992† | West Coast | 10 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 133 | 65 | 198 | 24 | 17 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 11.1 | 5.4 | 16.5 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 0 |
| 1993 | West Coast | 10 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 352 | 112 | 464 | 100 | 42 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 16.0 | 5.1 | 21.1 | 4.5 | 1.9 | 7 |
| 1994† | West Coast | 10 | 25 | 13 | 10 | 392 | 114 | 506 | 98 | 48 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 15.7 | 4.6 | 20.2 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 5 |
| 1995 | West Coast | 10 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 255 | 111 | 366 | 50 | 37 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 12.1 | 5.3 | 17.4 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1 |
| 1996 | West Coast | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 36 | 100 | 19 | 13 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 8.0 | 4.5 | 12.5 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0 |
| Career | 132 | 70 | 58 | 1730 | 620 | 2350 | 392 | 218 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 13.1 | 4.7 | 17.8 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 13 | ||
| Team | Year | Home and Away Season | Finals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Drew | % | Position | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| ADE | 2016 | 16 | 6 | 0 | .727 | 5th out of 18 | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toSydney inSemi-Final |
| ADE | 2017 | 15 | 6 | 1 | .705 | 1st out of 18 | 2 | 1 | .667 | Lost toRichmond inGrand Final |
| ADE | 2018 | 12 | 10 | 0 | .545 | 12th out of 18 | — | — | — | — |
| ADE | 2019 | 10 | 12 | 0 | .455 | 11th out of 18 | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 53 | 34 | 1 | .608 | 3 | 2 | .600 | |||
