Don Pyke out to take pressure off Sydney Swans coach

Pyke is now back in the game, having landed at the Sydney Swans as an assistant coach to John Longmire – a far less intense role in a much more docile AFL media market, which he admitted was part of the appeal.

But his concerns for the future of coaching have, if anything, deepened.

“My message was as much for the coaches as it was for the players. People get involved in this game because they love the game, they love the competition of it, the camaraderie, they love being part of a collective group,” Pyke said.

“When the enjoyment factor of that goes away through some of the pressures that are brought to bear … the mental health issue now is quite significant.

“I was really fortunate – when I finished up I was in a good space, I was really clear what I wanted to do, I had a bit of a break and I’m now able to come back in and go. But for me it’s more, how do we look after our people? Because the game’s built on our people.

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“And the reality is, a lot of these things take time – patience is required and sometimes people, coaches or players aren’t provided the time to actually develop.

“Ultimately if you’re not good enough to do the job, time will tell that. But sometimes it’s almost like a week-to-week that swings the pendulum.”

Pyke will focus heavily on strategy and opposition analysis in his new job at the Swans, a club he said he has long admired from afar and with a coach in Longmire he has long known but never worked with.

“I’ve always looked at the Swans as a club built on the things that make successful clubs work, he said.

“It was a nice fit, and the opportunity to work in almost a non-footy state will give me a different look on the world as I work out what might be next.

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“Hopefully I can help John, having walked in his shoes, to share experience, to say ‘can I do this, or that, or take that off you,’ to allow him the space to be the best coach he can be,” he said.

“Hopefully we can find a nice balance. It can be at times a lonely spot. You’re there trying to win games of footy, trying to manage a playing group, and those pressures both internal and external are real.”

Longmire has been vocal over the AFL’s decision to slash the soft cap and the implications that will have on the ability of clubs to manage the mental health challenges of their people, and Pyke is in his corner on that too.

“It’s a watch this space as to how we best do it,” he said. “Clubs are looking at, how do we effectively support our players knowing we don’t have the volume of people that we had? I think you’ll find in two years’ time, some clubs will do it really well and get it right, and other clubs may not.”