Mike Pyke

After a good first half of the 2015 season, in which he averaged 33 hitouts a game, knee problems caused Pyke's form to drop off. He missed four games and averaged fewer than 18 hitouts per game over the last half of the season and the finals. His season overall was characterised as "below par but serviceable" by the Swans.

On 15 September 2015 Pyke, who had recently earned a master's degree in Commerce (Finance) from the University of Sydney, was awarded the AFL Players Association's Education and Training Excellence Award "for his outstanding commitment to his Masters in Commerce and career development."

On 16 October 2015, Pyke announced his retirement from the AFL in typically understated fashion by posting a photo on Twitter of his boots hanging up inside his locker at the SCG. "I got to the point where I didn't think I had any more improvement left in me and that's when you know to step aside and let the younger players come through," he said of his decision.

Pre-season surgery and a hamstring injury hampered Pyke during the 2014 season. He played in 19 games, including the Swans' three finals matches. He had a career-best 53 hitouts in Round 17 against Carlton, but his best outing was arguably in Round 19 against Essendon when he had 49 hitouts, three contested marks, six tackles and a goal. On 23 September 2014 it was announced that Pyke had signed another contract to remain with the Swans until the end of 2016.

Pyke became an Australian citizen on 26 January 2014, Australia Day. He earned a master's degree in Commerce (Finance) from the University of Sydney in 2015.

As an amateur he was a member of various rugby teams based in Victoria, British Columbia, including the Pacific Sport rugby academy – where he led the B.C. Premier League with 210 points in 2003–2004, the University of Victoria, the Castaway Wanderers and the Vancouver Island Crimson Tide.

Pyke played in all 25 games for the Swans' 2013 season. He took 52 contested marks, more than any player in the competition except Travis Cloke, and he was the Swans' fourth-leading goal kicker with 28. Pyke's success on the field led former Sydney coach Paul Roos to hold him out as a contender for the 2013 All-Australian team. It was to be his best season.

Pyke is married to Florencia Bonet, and the couple had their first child in March 2013.

Pyke is the first Canadian national and the first former rugby union professional to play in an Australian Football League (AFL) premiership team, having played in the Sydney Swans 2012 premiership winning side. Prior to his Australian rules football career, Pyke was a professional rugby union player, having played for French Top 14 squad US Montauban and representing the Canadian national side.

After missing selection for round one of the 2012 season, Pyke injured his posterior cruciate ligament playing in the reserves. He made his return in Round 8, 2012, to a Sydney Swans starting side destined to win the Grand Final. The Swans added his blog, "Open Pyke", to their website in June 2012 and his goal against the West Coast Eagles was featured as the SwansTV Play of the Day for Round 16. In Round 21 Pyke scored a career-high three goals against the Western Bulldogs.

With the Sydney Swans' win in the 2012 Grand Final on 29 September 2012, Pyke became the first Canadian to play in an AFL premiership winning team. When Swans coach John Longmire substituted primary ruckman Shane Mumford, suffering from a sore hamstring, out of the game in the fourth term, Pyke was left to handle the ruck duties alone. He was recognised as playing an important role in the Swans' win. He was credited with 16 disposals, a career high, and three contested marks, more than anyone else on the field except Hawthorn star Lance Franklin, who took four.

On 30 October 2012, the Sydney Swans announced that they had signed Pyke to another two-year contract.

In the 2011 season Pyke played only two games before an ongoing quad muscle injury kept him off the senior side for the rest of the season.

By Round 14, 2010, Pyke finally managed his first senior goal – again against Richmond. .

In August 2010 Pyke was given a new two-year contract with the Sydney Swans.

The success of Pyke's move to the AFL was further cemented at the 2010 Sydney Swans Club Champion presentation, where Pyke was awarded the Dennis Carroll Trophy for Most Improved Player.

After viewing Pyke's credentials, the Sydney Swans offered him a contract. On 13 August 2008, Pyke signed with the club. The Swans had exploited a new draft rule initially designed to provide a pathway for amateur Australian rules players outside of Australia to a professional AFL career. Although there were rules in place to protect the Gaelic Athletic Association and clubs using it for the "Irish experiment", the new AFL draft rule did not preclude the recruitment of talented athletes from other sports such as rugby. As a result, Pyke became the first international sportsperson in VFL/AFL history drafted from a non-Irish sport.

As of August 2007, he has 17 caps for the national side, scoring 30 points in the process.

Pyke achieved fame in 2007 for running the length of the field and scoring a try against the New Zealand All Blacks off an intercepted pass from Dan Carter.

In November 2006, he signed with US Montauban, where he played alongside Canadian teammate Ryan Smith.

Pyke began his professional rugby career at the Edinburgh Gunners in 2004. He won his first international cap against Japan, at age 20 the same year.

Michael Anthony Patrick "Mike" Pyke (born 24 March 1984) is a Canadian retired dual-code football player, who was a professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans.