Pyke the focus as AFL becomes the talk of the town in Wellington
- Saturday, April 20 2013 @ 03:03 am ACST
- Contributed by: Rod Shaw
- Views: 2,340
Mike Pyke, the Canadian ruckman who helped lead the Sydney Swans to a Premiership in 2012 is remembered in New Zealand for different reasons. Before his amazing code swap to AFL he was a rugby union international for Canada. In a country as obsessed with rugby as the Kiwis are with their All Blacks the sight of a player the size of Pyke scoring a runaway try down the wing against the pride of New Zealand leaves a memory etched in the minds of many.
Pyke has been the centre of a TV3 news story and is also a focus within the print media with the great article Ex-All-Black-foe Pyke becomes AFL star.
The AFL are predicting a crowd of around 20,000 and there is no doubt a connection to Pyke may lead to further interest.