AFL Draft 2023: Geelong Falcons prospect Joe Pike on his surprise call-up after playing elite basketball

This Barwon Heads product hadn’t played a full season of footy since under-12s. But a helping hand from a familiar name kickstarted his rapid rise.

At 15, Joe Pike never had professional footy on his mind.

Having travelled to New Zealand to represent an Australian country basketball side at under-14 level, Pike would only chase the Sherrin with Barwon Heads when he could.

That was until he made the call to take football seriously and play with his mates, taking up development classes with former Western Bulldogs senior coach Brendan McCartney.

Without a full season under his belt since under-12s, Pike was shocked when he had a voice message on his phone from former Geelong premiership player and then Geelong Falcons talent manager Tom Lonergan halfway through their pre-season.

Joe Pike (right) was selected to represent Australia in basketball. Picture: Alison Wynd

“I was doing these sessions on a Sunday morning with Brendan McCartney … and it was sort of like, if I’m going to give a footy a go I’ll go to his sessions and can learn a thing or two from him for sure,” Pike explained.

“I’m still not 100 per cent sure but I think the way it went was he spoke to Tom Lonergan who was the talent manager at the time.

“One time randomly I got a phone call from Tom saying, ‘Pikey, here from the Falcons. Would love for you to come down and give it a crack and see how things turn out.’”

Things ended up turning out pretty well.

In September of that year, the 203cm ruckman was playing on the MCG on grand final day in the U17 Futures match.

He said Geelong Falcons graduate Oliver Northam, who had done a similar shift from basketball was behind his initial move to Aussie rules – along with a basketball coach who “sucked the fun” out of playing.

Pike is 203cm tall. Picture: Alison Wynd

Pike celebrates a goal for the Falcons. Picture: Mark Wilson

“I played (basketball) from when I was 5 or 6 to when I was 16 every year and got to a relatively high level playing state stuff and managed to go overseas to New Zealand to represent Australia Country,”

“It was sort of like, I’d played for such a long time and played around all my mates and the year before I left Ollie Northam left basketball to come play at the Falcons and that was sort of a big thing for him and I saw his career was going really well.

“I had a quite average coach who sucked the fun out of it and all my mates sort of started drifting off and playing footy so I thought I’ll go play footy with my mates and see how it goes.

“Came in with about a month before (Falcons) selections and just got really lucky, they saw something in me.”

“I got quite lucky last year to play on the grand final and reflecting after that year I went from sort of playing basketball and sort of playing with the best talent across the whole of Australia in a year.”

DRAFT YEAR

Pike went on to represent Vic Country this season in his draft year, with their trip to Western Australia to face the Sandgropers one of the highlights of his year.

The developing big man got better as the season went on in the Coates Talent League for the Falcons, impressing with his athleticism and tapwork.

He feels he has plenty of growth left in him and said he has improved out of sight since the inexperienced player who first walked into the Falcons program.

Joe Pike in action for Vic Country. Picture: Getty Images

“I think looking back on when I first started playing and vision from my first game, even before that just looking back on the trial games to try and get in and stuff I think I’ve improved 500-1000 per cent,” Pike said.

“It’s just all the little things. The athleticism and stuff stays there but all the skills and stuff I’ve picked up from the coaches.

“Obviously rucks and key forwards don’t hit their peak until their mid-20s so I think I’ve got a lot of years of hard work and improvement to go and I reckon I’ve got quite a high ceiling of where I can get to in the future.”

DRAFT CHANCES

Pike is a realist.

The cool and calm customer from Barwon Heads has spoken to one club, Geelong, in the lead-up to the draft and has plans in place if his name isn’t called out in the national or rookie drafts.

Pike has spoken to the Falcons about the possibility of VFL opportunities with Geelong if things don’t work out, and the Seagulls could end up landing him in the Bellarine FNL.

But no matter what happens, Pike is pleased with how his draft year has panned out and is proud of how far he has come.

Pike end up at Barwon Heads if he isn’t drafted. Picture: Mark Wilson

“Every week, every game I just kept on progressing and I feel like I’ve done as much as I can this year to put myself in the best position that I can be for the draft,” Pike said.

“It is sort of looking like hopefully VFL, if AFL obviously doesn’t work out, but Falcons over-age year is also on the table.

“If not then just keep training, play local footy and just keep improving. For the next few years I’ve got a few years for a ruck so just keep working hard and hope that the opportunities come my way.

“Barwon Heads has said they are keen to have a chat and I can sign back there. I love playing with all them because I’ve been around there all my life.”

Originally published as AFL Draft 2023: Geelong Falcons prospect Joe Pike on his surprise call-up after playing elite basketball