Don Pyke should be remembered as much for guiding Crows out of darkness following Phil Walsh’s death as club’s recent slide
The Crows’ past two seasons under Don Pyke were big disappointments but he was instrumental in leading the Crows out of the darkness of the Phil Walsh tragedy to the brink of a flag.
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Don Pyke’s tenure at the Crows will be remembered by many outside West Lakes for the 2017 grand final loss and the club’s slide ever since.
That is how footy tends to work — in lots of people’s minds, you are only as good as your last game or most recent season.
But what that means is there is a tendency to forget how things begin and overlook how they unfolded along the way.
Just four years ago, Pyke took over a Crows team when the club was at its lowest ebb following the shock death of previous coach Phil Walsh in July 2015.
It is an unimaginable situation for an incoming coach to face.
In making their appointment, the Crows looked for a stabilising influence and someone who could both lead with compassion and drive higher standards on and off the field.
Adelaide had also had five senior or caretaker coaches in five years — exacerbated by the Walsh tragedy — and lost superstar Patrick Dangerfield via trade to Geelong, so needed a cool hand to take the club forward.
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Pyke proved the well-rounded man for the job.
Not only did Pyke have experience as coaching consultant in his home state of WA at Fremantle and Claremont, as well as with his former club West Coast, he had been in the Crows’ inner sanctum previously as an assistant to Neil Craig in 2005-06.
He also had stints outside footy in the oil and gas industry, and boasted a calm, thoughtful demeanour to guide the players in what were trying times.
At his introductory press conference, Pyke pledged to respect Walsh’s legacy of “team first” and “elite standards”, and noted the grieving for the fallen coach had not finalised.
But he also said it was time for the club to move on to the next chapter.
“There are a lot of good things at the footy club … a lot of these things were started by Phil,” Pyke said.
“Unfortunately, he will not see that through.
“My challenge is to come in and work with the things that are good and try to identify the things we can still improve further.”
The following season, Pyke helped lead Adelaide from the darkness of 2015 and early traits of his coaching began to show: slingshot football from defence to attack, high scoring with a multi-pronged forward line, playing with a hard edge — not unlike in his days as a premiership-winning West Coast midfielder — and stoicism when fronting the media.
Along the way, the Crows defied external expectations they would struggle without Dangerfield, winning 17 games in Pyke’s first season and reaching a semi-final, while giving supporters and the competition a taste of what would unfold the next year.
In 2017, Pyke did what no Adelaide coach since Malcolm Blight could — take the club back to a grand final.
But unlike under Blight in 1997-98, the Crows missed out on the ultimate success and from that 48-point loss to Richmond in the flag decider, things at West Lakes started to unravel.
Within a few months, Adelaide was making headlines for its controversial pre-season camp and the “Collective Mind” tag, then injuries soured a disappointing campaign, as the club fell to 12th.
Missing the finals again this year in 11th with a 10-12 record only added to the scrutiny, while fan discontent grew and an external footy department review commenced.
Pyke conceded on Thursday that the job had been “frustrating and draining” in the press conference announcing his resignation.
People will speculate he has been pushed to quit despite he and Crows chairman Rob Chapman insisting it is Pyke’s decision and nothing to do with the review.
But only Pyke knows how big a toll starting under those exceptional circumstances had taken and how much the fallout from the grand final and camp, and consecutive years of on-field disappointment had compounded his and his family’s exhaustion.
Pyke believes walking away is in the best interests of the club and it appears also for himself, so there can be “clean air” and he can spend more time with his wife and daughters.
He exits as the latest in a list of Adelaide coaches unable to end the club’s flag drought and
will cop criticism for the team’s decline these past two years, his stubbornness to stick with older players ahead of blooding youth and certain game style issues.
But as the club tries to restore itself from this low point, there needs to be recognition of Pyke’s role in taking it from unique depths and on a rollercoaster ride that only Blight has bettered.
If Blight was Adelaide’s “Messiah”, Pyke, at least initially, was the Crows’ guiding light.
Originally published as Don Pyke should be remembered as much for guiding Crows out of darkness following Phil Walsh’s death as club’s recent slide