Strategy Back of House Discussion: Targets, Changes, Appointments & Facilities

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After two years in purple, can we entice Jaymie Graham back to the club?

Would be a great succession plan for Simpson if either; a) he sees out his contract and decides to move on, or b) he is moved in sooner.

Massive fan of what he brings.
 
Deepthroat said:
After two years in purple, can we entice Jaymie Graham back to the club?

Would be a great succession plan for Simpson if either; a) he sees out his contract and decides to move on, or b) he is moved in sooner.

Massive fan of what he brings.
Click to expand...
There were issues there when he left, he won’t be coming back to play under Simpson.
 

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Article doesn’t provide any comment on the likelihood of Pyke joining WCE or not beyond saying that he’s interested in the CEO role replacing Nisbett

But it’s a good read on his background and why he’d be suited to the role

A person unfamiliar with the AFL might laugh at the suggestion that someone could ascend from assistant coach to chief executive of one of the league’s biggest club in a single move.
Those more familiar with the league and its people know that, if there is such a person who could make such a dramatic jump, it is Sydney Swans assistant Don Pyke.


It is too early to declare Pyke a clear front runner for the West Coast Eagles’ job, which will be vacated by long-time incumbent Trevor Nisbett at some point in the next 12 months.

But it is safe to say Pyke is interested in the role.

And while West Coast chairman Paul Fitzpatrick said this week he was not in a position to talk about the club’s interest in Pyke or any other candidate, it is equally safe to say Pyke is a person they are interested in having as part of the process.

As speculation swirled about West Coast near the end of the home and away season - and what they might do about two diabolical years - Pyke, remarkably, was linked to three possible roles.

There was the senior coaching position, with Adam Simpson’s head seemingly on the block before a miraculous round 23 upset win over the Western Bulldogs.

There was the CEO’s position, with Nisbett also in the firing line and declaring he would not seek an extension to his contract which expires in 2024.

And there were calls from former players and influential supporters to install Pyke as a powerful head of football to steer what is set to be the biggest rebuild operation in the Eagles’ history after their second wooden spoon.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and the Eagles are unlikely to be rebuilt as quickly as their supporters are used to after just five wins in two years and the retirements of greats Nic Naitanui, Shannon Hurn and Luke Shuey.

Could Pyke have done any one of these jobs?

His resume says he could have done all of them.

He was the senior coach who took Adelaide into the 2017 grand final. And his business credentials are as strong as any person who has ascended to a club CEO role in recent seasons.

His accumulated football IQ and education stretches over five decades and his mentors include football revolutionary Gerard Neesham, the defensively minded Mick Malthouse, both John Worsfold and Adam Simpson, Adelaide’s sports science guru turned senior coach Neil Craig and more recently Sydney premiership coach John Longmire.

It is only when you step back from Pyke’s sporting and business resume that you realise how varied and remarkable it is.

Long before Collingwood fans chanted “USA, USA” at the MCG in the 2018 preliminary final when Mason Cox took the game against Richmond by the throat, Pyke was the first American-born AFL player.

He was born in Bloomington, Illinois in December 1968. Father Frank, who had finished third in the 1962 Sandover Medal and second in 1963 while playing for Perth, had shifted the family to America to work in sports science at Illinois State University.

Frank Pyke would later earn further fame back in Australia in 1973-74 as the sports physiologist who worked closely with Dennis Lillee to repair his seriously injured back.

Then, in the early 1980s, Don Pyke played interstate junior cricket at under 16 and under 19 level for the ACT after Frank had shifted the family for work at the University of Canberra.

Don Pyke’s football prowess was obvious.

He made his debut under Neesham at Claremont in the 1987 premiership team as a dashing goalkicking rover and won the club’s best and fairest the following year, but it was his ability to change his game to suit AFL football that underlined his footy smarts.

On the outer at West Coast after Mathouse’s arrival in 1990, he reinvented himself first as a small defender, then as an accountable midfielder who could not only blanket opposition guns like Geelong’s Garry Hocking, but still find the ball himself and be damaging with it.

He played in the Eagles’ 1992 flag, returning to the field after being knocked out by Gary Ablett Senior’s elbow in the opening minutes. He shared the Eagles’ 1993 best and fairest with Glen Jakovich, finished second to Jakovich the following year in the Eagles second flag and was one of the club’s most valuable players when a degenerative shoulder problem ended his AFL career after 132 games in 1996.

He began his coaching career at Claremont in 1999-2000 and served on the Eagles board, all before his AFL coaching career began.

A commerce graduate, Pyke had worked successfully at Ernst and Young during his playing career. Post-career he successfully co-founded his own firm, Seismic Australia, in the oil and gas field - then sold the business and stayed on to work with the new owners before accepting a role as a senior assistant coach under Craig at Adelaide.

He quit the Crows after two successful seasons - preliminary final years in 2005 and 2006 - and returned to Perth for family reasons, resuming a business career in oil and gas.

Simpson, in turn, lured him back to football when he took the reins at West Coast as a midfield and stoppages strategy coach. And by the time he had taken the job at Adelaide in the wake of the tragic death of Phil Walsh, Pyke had established a reputation as a master of ball movement, defying the press and zone defences that had been developed in the AFL.

He pushed the Crows into the AFL finals in 2016 and into the 2017 grand final before the club’s calamitous off-season camp ahead of the 2018 season derailed his senior coaching tenure. He quit after 2019 and sat out of football in 2020 before joining the Swans under Longmire in 2021 as the club contended with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Longmire said at the time that the ideal candidate would need to be “skilled at a number of things because there are going to be less of us”.

“The first name that came to mind was Don Pyke,” Longmire told AAP, citing his business, boardroom and coaching experience. “I got a very clear picture early days that he missed coaching.”

The Eagles are at an interesting and critical juncture in the club’s history and could take many paths in the search for a new CEO after Nisbett’s 25 years in the role.

A club that has always deferred to those they know might want fresh eyes on their operation. But, in Pyke, they may have a candidate who serves both purposes - a bloke they know, trust and respect and one who has successfully walked many paths, and many sporting and business fields, both with them and independent from them.
Click to expand...
 
Convocation said:
I'd be dissapointed if the Eagles haven't reached out to Mark.
Has one of the best assistant records in the AFL (Swans/Eagles Premiership years, Dockers during their finals campaigns)
His a Victorian, but Wife is from Western Australia
briztoon this is a genuine loss for the Lions

View attachment 1826104
Click to expand...

100% we should be trying to get him back


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
Convocation said:
I'd be dissapointed if the Eagles haven't reached out to Mark.
Has one of the best assistant records in the AFL (Swans/Eagles Premiership years, Dockers during their finals campaigns)
His a Victorian, but Wife is from Western Australia
briztoon this is a genuine loss for the Lions

View attachment 1826104
Click to expand...
Agree - chase him!
 
Listens to Phil Davis on trade radio. He needs to working in club land. Knows his shit

On Pixel 6 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Convocation said:
I'd be dissapointed if the Eagles haven't reached out to Mark.
Has one of the best assistant records in the AFL (Swans/Eagles Premiership years, Dockers during their finals campaigns)
His a Victorian, but Wife is from Western Australia
briztoon this is a genuine loss for the Lions

View attachment 1826104
Click to expand...
Brisbane didn't offer him another contract.

Not sure what's going on there.
 

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"Josh Gibcus had a great debut season, he had hamstring surgery in January, has had some nerve issues with his hammy. Gibcus is heading to Qatar on Friday to one of the world leaders in sports medicine. Jeremy McGovern has been there, Kylian Mbappe has been there. There is no timeline for a return date to playing for Gibcus. Richmond are stumped on this one." - Josh Gabelich on the issues with Josh Gibcus hamstring

Has Gov and Co already been? Havent seen anything about it yet.
 
Chris_6678 said:
"Josh Gibcus had a great debut season, he had hamstring surgery in January, has had some nerve issues with his hammy. Gibcus is heading to Qatar on Friday to one of the world leaders in sports medicine. Jeremy McGovern has been there, Kylian Mbappe has been there. There is no timeline for a return date to playing for Gibcus. Richmond are stumped on this one." - Josh Gabelich on the issues with Josh Gibcus hamstring

Has Gov and Co already been? Havent seen anything about it yet.
Click to expand...

Was a private trip so I can't imagine the club would publish anything on it
 

West Coast Eagles

@WestCoastEagles

We have made exciting changes to our 2024 coaching staff. Luke Shuey will join Adam Simpson's coaching team, while Kyal Horsley will lead the WAFL Eagles in 2024.
 
WCE_Phill said:
#jobsfortheboys
Click to expand...

This management crew just don’t seem to learn a *ing thing.

No wonder we are backward in our game plan, we are so insular.

Also just how Luke Webster is still on our coaching panel astounds me.
Now moved to the backline …. So watch that go backwards this season.

His late old man, Ron and King Nissy were good mates.

Can’t wait till we bring in a new CEO.
 
www.westcoasteagles.com.au

Shuey joins Eagles coaching ranks

The champion midfielder has joined Adam Simpson's coaching team, while Kyal Horsley will lead the WAFL Eagles in 2024
www.westcoasteagles.com.au www.westcoasteagles.com.au

"Further changes to the West Coast Eagles’ Football Department will be communicated in due course."

To me, that reads there is more to come. Seems to be left quite late with training starting next month.

The soft cap has increased for 2024 and I can't see any shift within that article that would have significantly increased our soft cap spending. Acknowledging that Mat Inness coming from the Dogs, which was announced weeks ago, is likely an increase in spending from Warren Kofoed.

If there is money to be spent:
  • I would love to poach someone like Leppitsch, who is currently heavily linked with a move from the Pies to the Dogs.
  • Or, what is arguably more important for us would be a development coach, someone like Luke Power. Mick Ablett was recently on SEN and said he is one of the best he has seen.
 
Last edited:
To summarise the coaching changes :

1) Pratt (Backline coach) leaves
2) Webster moves from forwards to backs
3) Knights moves from midfield to forwards
4) Shuey joins as stoppage coach
5) Schofield has his role as strategy and stoppage coach elevated to be in overall charge of the midfield
6) Horsley (Development coach of 3 years) replaces Wiley as WAFL coach
7) Brennan has some sort of role change in the development coaching ranks whilst Nicoski is no longer part of the development coaching group at all

In : Shuey
Out : Pratt, Wiley, Nicoski

That’s a net loss both in terms of numbers of personnel and coaching experience and a shuffle of roles between those who’ve remained

All up it’s a tad underwhelming and we can only hope there’s an addition or two still in the pipeline, preferably someone with a reasonable level of experience at another club(s)

Also, the last time we did a similar shuffling of line coaches was prior to the 2020 season. It didn’t work so good, although the disruption to that preseason caused by covid would have been a factor in that
 

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