After three rounds, Sydney sits undefeated having knocked off two of last year’s preliminary finalists on their home turf.
The Swans look a completely different side offensively, with their young list firing on all cylinders.
The addition of former Adelaide coach Don Pyke to the coaching staff has been credited as a key reason for their improvement, particularly with the ball in hand and David King believes he is complimenting John Longmire’s defensive structures perfectly.
“The Swans defensively have played the same way for 20 years. Capable one-on-one and heavily endorsed to push back and support once they’ve lost possession. That’s John Longmire for 20 years,” King told SEN Breakfast.
“Don Pyke comes in and says ‘why don’t you do this on offence, this’ll compliment what you’re doing’ and they’ve gone hand in glove.
“Now they’ve got two ways of getting you.”
The question has to be asked: is Pyke the number one potential head coaching candidate on the market? Kane Cornes believes he has all the necessary tools.
“Would he be a logical head coach (candidate)? Look at his resume and his CV, he played off in a Grand Final, his winning percentage is amazing and they’re speaking so highly of him at Sydney,” Cornes said.
“He was disgruntled (at the end with the Crows) with the media coverage, he was disgruntled with the camp, the media coverage of that and the things going on at the Adelaide Football Club. They were an unstoppable force in that 2017 home-and-away season. They played amazing football.”
To which King replied: “So if there was a (head coaching) job tomorrow, pick a club, say GWS moved on Leon Cameron, (Pyke’s already) in Sydney. Is he the first phone call you’re making?”
“He would be in the top three,” Cornes said.
“He’s someone who has done it and going second time around, but also he’s been on a board, he’s a successful businessman, things have been flying, things have been challenging.”
“What he would have learned across his journey as a player, on the board, in business, as a coach, it would be invaluable I would think.
“And then to see what he’s doing at Sydney, how much is his influence, we can overstate these things, but John Longmire is giving him credit.
“I would think he’s an option.”
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Sydney CEO Tom Harley revealed that the club was courting Pyke early in 2020 about a potential role.
“When the shutdown period happened around 12 months ago, myself, John Longmire and Charlie Gardiner we met and thought ‘what will this look like’ and obviously there was talk of significant reductions in the soft cap,” Harley told SEN Breakfast.
“As a result our strategy was to get as many really high quality people, if that meant we had less (total people) so be it, so we started to throw around potential structures and throw around people who might be available and Don was part of that.
“We reached out to Don pretty early in the piece and John and Charlie progressed the conversation and we devised a role around opposition and strategy which is a sweet spot for Don and he was keen to get back into footy.
“As the (2020) season unfolded he looked at what we were doing on the field and where we were going as a list … he’s been a great addition.”
As for Pyke’s head coaching desires, Harley is yet to have the conversation with the former Adelaide coach.
“We haven’t had that specific conversation with him. This was very much the here and now and what he wanted to do,” Harley said.
“He and his wife were really keen to come to Sydney and experience a different side of Australia and I know they’re enjoying that.
“Right now from what I can see and the conversations I’ve had with him he’s really enjoying the role and working closely with John and the other three coaches – it’s gotten pretty small pretty quick – he’s been a great addition to the footy club.”