Don Pyke: The Next Blight or Neil Craig?

[fairfooty]

I think Campo is more like Craig, rather than Pyke.

Too early to say with Pyke. If he makes changes next season that will be a win

Yep. Too early to judge the Pyke era. Suspect after last night he'll start really asserting himself next season and we should see some changes. Takes a while to stamp yourself on a new club - particularly in the circumstances he came in to.

 

[relapse]

As much as I hate to say it, back when I heard his free press conference after getting the job, I made a comment on here that after listening to Pyke it reminded me a lot of Neil Passmore Craig.

It's something that I hoped I would be wrong about, but unfortunately I am starting to worry that my initial instinct was correct.

 

[adelaidecrows]

Pyke has already answered this mate...
Craig 2.0 that's it, will consistently get us in the 8, maybe a prelim or two, but he will follow the same path

Wtf? What evidence do you have for such a stupid assessment

 

[fairfooty]

As much as I hate to say it, back when I heard his free press conference after getting the job, I made a comment on here that it reminded me a lot of Neil Passmore Craig.

It's something that I hoped I would be wrong about, but unfortunately I am starting to worry that my initial instinct was correct.

Quite possible relapse - but I suggest we have this conversation this time next year - will be much clearer.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Don Pyke will be the next Don Pyke

 

[Rory Walkerfield]

Yep. Too early to judge the Pyke era. Suspect after last night he'll start really asserting himself next season and we should see some changes. Takes a while to stamp yourself on a new club - particularly in the circumstances he came in to.

I am hopeful of this, but don't expect it. Am willing to wait and see the rd 1 team before passing judgement.

 

[Scrotes2000]

We shall see.

 

[relapse]

Wtf? What evidence do you have for such a stupid assessment

I wouldn't say stupid, the selection policy this year is already a massive red flag.

The club banked everything into a 22 that wasn't good enough. The club missed prime opportunities to reward performing younger players and instead opted for the myopic approach where opportunities were given to known quantities ie VB and Hendo. The club also persisted in carrying mediocre players through form slumps over the course of the season.

All the Neil Craig hallmarks are there unfortunately.

 

[Redline]

A huge off season for Pyke. If he has a plan then he needs to really get going over summer. He is only one year in and it probably takes three years to implement a plan but not many coaches get second go at it.

 

[creme_fraiche]

One season does not a failure make, but Pyke has the makings of a Neil Craig given his pigheadedness to address failings and his continual selection of underperforming regulars.

I'm hoping 2016 was the proving ground and the offseason will see a ruthless approach towards list management. Far from holding my breath though.

 

[Crowbots are dead]

Don pyke is his own man and doesn't strike me as being as stubborn as Craig but he must be braver at selection next year. He does seem risk averse but we need a full offseason and next year to truly assess. I hope he learnt to take more risks when he reflects on this year.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

After the tragic events of last year and losing Dangerfield in the off season many on here were predicting that we would struggle to make the 8 with a new coach and new game plan

Don Pyke has step in and delivered 17 wins, improved us statistically in both offence and defence and done this with a challenging draw and unlike other rookie coaches without needing a Coaching Director type of position supporting him

With this in mind 2016 is definitely a pass mark for our senior coach however it will be 2017 that will define him as a Coach

We will see during the off season and throughout the early rounds next season what changes have been made to move us into that genuine challenger bracket

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Don pyke is his own man and doesn't strike me as being as stubborn as Craig but he must be braver at selection next year. He does seem risk averse but we need a full offseason and next year to truly assess. I hope he learnt to take more risks when he reflects on this year.

Agree

Craig was robotic in the way he wanted us to play however Pyke was the players to play the game that is in front of them

 

[relapse]

After the tragic events of last year and losing Dangerfield in the off season many on here were predicting that we would struggle to make the 8 with a new coach and new game plan

Don Pyke has step in and delivered 17 wins, improved us statistically in both offence and defence and done this with a challenging draw and unlike other rookie coaches without needing a Coaching Director type of position supporting him

With this in mind 2016 is definitely a pass mark for our senior coach however it will be 2017 that will define him as a Coach

We will see during the off season and throughout the early rounds next season what changes have been made to move us into that genuine challenger bracket

From a win perspective it is a pass mark, but from a list development perspective I would be leaning more on the side of a fail.

Making the numbers up in the 8 is good and well, but history tells us that chasing perpetual mediocrity doesn't build a premiership caliber list.

Pyke will ultimately be measured on his ability to build and develop our list, I just hope that 2016 has taught him this.

 

[Bovo]

Was just thinking this morning it's twenty years since Blight's infamous cull. Wonder if Pyke has it in him to make the tough call.

I really don't like comments like this. There seems to be this pattern thought that if we do what we did once we will get the same result. Blight did not come in to cull us. He came in to make us a better team....it is just the culling was one of the side affects of making us a better team.

I don't think that is the magic pill for all scenarios. I think if we were able to keep Danger we would have been an even better team this year.....honestly that probably would have made the difference this year. Now Geelong can reap the rewards of his years of service.

 

[1970crow]

Honestly. The only thing that links Pyke to Craig is romanticism and pessimism.

The only similarity people have come up with was that they were in the same coaches box once upon a time.

We're scared that we're going to have another long spell of getting close but not close enough. That's all this comparison is.

1 year.

Pyke has 4 years as an assistant in the AFL system, 2 of which were his first 2 and under Neil Craig. To suggest he hasn't embraced some philosophies if Craig is idiotic. Selection and game day haven't resulted in Pyke providing a point of difference yet. He stated that, "you back in players who have done good things for the club over a long period of time". That's very Neil Craig and the selection change he was referring to ended up being VB for the GC game.

You'd have to be an idiot or extremely delusional to not accept the current similarities between the 2 coaches. But, it's his first year and he's dealing with assistants ingrained into our culture. His opportunity to set himself apart was limited in season one, it increases over this off-season and then again throughout next year.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

He's had a year. Has now seen what we've got.

There are some things he's lumped with (eg Mackay's and Douglas' contracts) that restrict our options but plenty of other ways he and the *new* coaching group can put their stamp on things (list management decisions, trade & draft, NAB Cup teams, Round 1 selection).

I'll be disappointed if we roll with the same coaching group and first 22 players.

 

[adelaidecrows]

I wouldn't say stupid, the selection policy this year is already a massive red flag.

The club banked everything into a 22 that wasn't good enough. The club missed prime opportunities to reward performing younger players and instead opted for the myopic approach where opportunities were given to known quantities ie VB and Hendo. The club also persisted in carrying mediocre players through form slumps over the course of the season.

All the Neil Craig hallmarks are there unfortunately.

Rubbish. If he rewarded SANFL performance by dropping players from winning teams and we lost and even missed the finals people would be calling for his head. Nothing wrong with selection this year except for Hartigan missing round 1 and vb selected for gc game other than that you just cant change for the unknown in a winning team. Hallmarks....please! Get a grip. The club can now make a decision 5 or 6 players may not be in the best 22 moving forward based on the sample size and make adjustments. Which i am sure they will. This team was new to pyke and made a semi last year. Wholesale changes were never going to happen. Its a reality.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I really don't like comments like this. There seems to be this pattern thought that if we do what we did once we will get the same result. Blight did not come in to cull us. He came in to make us a better team....it is just the culling was one of the side affects of making us a better team.

I don't think that is the magic pill for all scenarios. I think if we were able to keep Danger we would have been an even better team this year.....honestly that probably would have made the difference this year. Now Geelong can reap the rewards of his years of service.

How would we know though? We've never done anything like it since.

What we know definitively is that persisting with the same group of players that have fallen short is an ironclad guarantee of failure.

 

[adelaidecrows]

We can't entirely hide behind 'lost their best player'. The age demographic of our list says there's a certain amount of assumed improvement, which is what we saw.

You can in one season. Next year not one bit. Needs a chance to build before making stupid assumptions based on a very small sample size.

 

[TrainRoo32]

Wtf? What evidence do you have for such a stupid assessment

Geelong R8, R18
West Coast R23
Sydney SF

Selection R1, R9, R19-21

 

[Golumless]

We're about a year off finding out. Pyke in terms of expectation has passed spectacularly this season, but there is some concerning trends starting to happen.

The good thing is we lose Noble. Changes the dynamic.

 

[adelaidecrows]

4 games in his first year? What was neil craig then in his first year??? Stupid assessment.

 

[Vhaluus]

Geelong R8, R18
West Coast R23
Sydney SF

Selection R1, R9, R19-21

Selections round 1 to current.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

From a win perspective it is a pass mark, but from a list development perspective I would be leaning more on the side of a fail.

Making the numbers up in the 8 is good and well, but history tells us that chasing perpetual mediocrity doesn't build a premiership caliber list.

Pyke will ultimately be measured on his ability to build and develop our list, I just hope that 2016 has taught him this.

Again I can't agree

We have had 6 players in the AA squad and 7 players in the U/22 AA squad and even our elite players in Betts, Sloane and Talia have improved, you don't win 17 games and have these nominations unless your squad is developing and improving

Counting the number of players who debut is not the only KPI in determining if you list is developing

Like I have said previously the main criticism I have is that Wigg did not got games ahead of DMac, this in my mind was a lost opportunity