Mike Pyke

Pyke was selected by the Swans as a round 4 (57th) pick in the rookie draft and added to the team's list.

Pyke made an impressive debut in the NAB Cup match against Port Adelaide.

His performance rucking against premiership ruckmen Dean Brogan and Brendon Lade earned him early favouritism to take the secondary ruckman role, supporting premiership ruckman Darren Jolly and make his AFL premiership season debut in the Swans' opening match against St Kilda.

Michael Anthony Patrick Pyke (born 24 March 1984) is a Canadian retired dual-code football player, who was a professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans.

As an amateur he was a member of various rugby teams based in Victoria, British Columbia, including the Pacific Sport rugby academy – where he led the B.C. Premier League with 210 points in 2003–2004, the University of Victoria, the Castaway Wanderers and the Vancouver Island Crimson Tide.

Pyke began his professional rugby career at the Edinburgh Gunners in 2004.

He won his first international cap against Japan, at age 20 the same year.

In November 2006, he signed with US Montauban, where he played alongside Canadian teammate Ryan Smith.

As of August 2007, he has 17 caps for the national side, scoring 30 points in the process.

Pyke achieved fame in 2007 for running the length of the field and scoring a try against the New Zealand All Blacks off an intercepted pass from Dan Carter.

As a rugby player, Pyke typically played on the wing or at fullback, but was also capable of playing most other backline positions.

Injuries sustained at US Montauban saw Pyke look for a career change.

A friend, Matt Woodland, convinced Pyke that he had all the attributes of an Australian Rules Football player and set in motion the code switch.

Pyke put together a DVD showcasing his rugby highlights which Woodland then sent to AFL player agent Michael Quinlan from Top Dog Management.

Quinlan was immediately convinced of the possibilities and after speaking with Pyke several times began dialogue with the Sydney Swans, a team known for unconventional recruitment.

After viewing Pyke's credentials, the Sydney Swans offered him a contract.

On 13 August 2008, Pyke signed with the team.

The Swans had exploited a new draft rule initially designed to provide a pathway for amateur Australian rules players outside of Australia to a professional AFL career.

Although there were rules in place to protect the Gaelic Athletic Association and clubs using it for the "Irish experiment", the new AFL draft rule did not preclude the recruitment of talented athletes from other sports such as rugby.

As a result, Pyke became the first international sportsperson in VFL/AFL history drafted from a non-Irish sport.

Pyke believed his basketball and rugby background would help him adapt to Australian rules football.

With his 200 cm height and 105 kg weight, he saw himself playing as a ruckman and/or defender.

Despite a solid performance in his debut, Pyke's conversion was criticized by some AFL commentators, most notably Brian Taylor, who described the experiment in 2009 as a "joke" and described him as the worst player in the AFL.

He was elevated to the senior list shortly before the first round, leading to speculation he would indeed be chosen, but he was announced on the emergency list for the squad, with Jesse White taking the second ruck spot.

In the following rounds, Pyke played for the Swans' reserves side in the AFL Canberra league.

After a 20 possession strong performance with the reserves including some strong contested marks and goals, the club raised the possibility that Pyke's debut would take place in the coming weeks.

Pyke finally got his opportunity with the Swans when selected to play in round 6 of the AFL premiership competition against the Richmond Tigers.

In 50 minutes of game time, he accumulated 4 handballs, 1 mark, 1 tackle and 11 hit-outs.

While his debut wasn't sensational, he showed enough confident passages of play to be considered as a back-up ruckman for the Swans.

By Round 14, 2010, Pyke finally managed his first senior goal, again against Richmond.

In August 2010 Pyke was given a new two-year contract with the Sydney Swans.

Swans' coach Paul Roos praised Pyke, saying he had developed into a genuine AFL ruckman.

"This year, if someone came to their first game, you'd have to point out that this is a Canadian rugby player now playing AFL football, and that's the biggest compliment you can give Pykey," Roos said.

The success of Pyke's move to the AFL was further cemented at the 2010 Sydney Swans Club Champion presentation, where Pyke was awarded the Dennis Carroll Trophy for Most Improved Player.

In the 2011 season, Pyke played only two games before an ongoing quad muscle injury kept him off the senior side for the rest of the season.

Pyke is the first Canadian national and the first former rugby union professional to play in an Australian Football League (AFL) premiership team, having played in the Sydney Swans 2012 premiership-winning side.

Before his Australian rules football career, Pyke was a professional rugby union player, having played for French Top 14 squad US Montauban and representing the Canadian national side.

Pyke was known for his understated goal celebrations.

Pyke was born to parents Christine Peterson and Richard Pyke in Victoria, British Columbia.

Pyke first started playing basketball, soccer at St. Michaels University School in British Columbia, a school which has produced several Canadian national rugby players over the past few decades, as well as Steve Nash, NBA star, Hall of Fame and 2 time MVP before Mike was convinced to focus on rugby.