While the ruckman’s 2013 season saw him reach great heights, including a career-high 28 goals and 89 marks for the year, after playing the first seven matches of this season, Pyke was struck down with a hamstring injury, which sidelined him until round 14.
Following his injury setback, he managed to find momentum later in the year, with the big Canadian producing an impressive performance in round 17, collecting a career-high 53 hit-outs against Carlton at the SCG.
Pyke was also dominant in the ruck against Essendon in round 19 (49 hit-outs, 12 disposals, six tackles) as well as in the Swans’ 63-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium in round 22, which saw him pick up 44 hit-outs and 12 disposals.
While Pyke was able to regain fitness and consistency in the second half of the year, he told sydneyswans.com.au he hoped to have more of an impact around the ground in 2015.
It’s still pretty raw, but have you had the chance to reflect on the Grand Final a few days later?
I think the thing we all want to do most is apologise to all of our supporters. Obviously you don’t go out and try to put that kind of performance in, but it’s happened and we all have to man-up to it and move on. However as a player, I do want to apologise to our fans.
What can you take out the game and what have you learnt from it?
We’ve learnt that Hawthorn is the best team in the competition at the moment and they’re the benchmark.
It’s hard to look too far back at this point, but how did you sum up your year in 2014?
I think my year was really inconsistent. I don’t think I started well, and whilst I was building some momentum, I had my hamstring injury and it took me a while to get back into the swing of things. I think I learnt a lot from the year, and that’s the positive to come out of it and I think I learnt a lot about what I need to do in my role to become a better player, so hopefully I’ll try to implement those things over the summer.
What are some of those things you need to improve on next season?
I think just doing more around the ground, and I think last year that was something I was able to do and was able to contribute in ways outside of the ruck. This year I didn’t do that as much as I probably would have liked to.
How about the team? What does the team need to improve on to be bigger and better next year?
I think if you look at the year as a whole, most teams would be happy to make it to a Grand Final. The reality is there are always 17 teams who were not happy with their year and it’s a matter of performing on the big stage and winning the big games and winning in round 17, for example, is far less important than winning in round 26. I think that’s what we have to improve; we have to make sure we win the big games.
There were a lot of big improvers this year for the Swans. Who were some of the standout players in your mind?
Probably one of the nice things to come out of the year was that we had some of our younger guys really step up to the plate. Jake Lloyd was immense and Dane Rampe continued to improve, and he was quite good last year as well. Harry Cunningham has taken his game to the next level, so those are just a couple of guys who are really going to cement themselves in the team for a long time to come. Then there are guys even below them who are fighting for a spot, so I think we’re well-positioned to have some good young talent coming through the ranks.
You mentioned those players who were knocking on the door who didn’t quite make it in the finals series. Of those players, who do you think will have a big year in 2015?
I think Dean Towers was unlucky not to play more games this year. He’d been pushing for selection for a long time and then had a bit of an injury in the middle of the year. I also think we might see a little bit more of Sammy Naismith next year, because he’s pushing hard in the ruck and Toby Nankervis was close at times this year, and if he has a good pre-season, he could potentially be one to watch.
The off-season is coming up, what are your plans?
I’ll be going back to Canada, just a short trip with family and friends, and then will probably just spend some time with the family.
