Austadiums Forum

Nines wrote:I've got more important things to do.

Nines wrote: Seemingly Mike Pyke is a big talking point in the Wellington games.

The travelling Australian media contingent outnumbered fans, as AFL arrived in Wellington yesterday.

The defending champion Sydney Swans were the first to fly into town, ahead of St Kilda's "home" clash at Westpac Stadium on Anzac Day.

Melbourne fans, Hannah 10, and Amy Williams, 6, on a coincidental family holiday in Wellington, were the sum total of the Swans' welcoming committee. Having heard their beloved "Swannies" were in town, the sisters got their guernseys on and dragged their parents down to the airport in the hope of meeting their heroes.

Most of the players were only too willing to sign autographs, before Swans defender Heath Grundy faced a media pack consisting of three Aussie print journos, a token Kiwi, a Channel 7 film crew and a cameraman and reporter from Swans TV.

Grundy's mum, Lynn, is a Kiwi, whose family emigrated to Australia when she was 4. Son Heath had no idea where his mum had lived prior to moving to Adelaide, opting for somewhere near Auckland as his best guess.

Simmo79 wrote:Let me guess: he played professional rugby + they like Rugby in NZ, therefore, "big talking point".

Michael Anthony Patrick "Mike" Pyke (born March 24, 1984, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian dual-code football player, currently a professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans.

Pyke is the first Canadian national and the first former rugby union professional to play in an Australian Football League premiership team, having played in the 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.

nobleoz wrote:Australian National Ballooning championships at Canowindra got more people than NRL!

IanRitchie wrote:

Simmo79 wrote:Let me guess: he played professional rugby + they like Rugby in NZ, therefore, "big talking point".

to steal from wikipedia:

Michael Anthony Patrick "Mike" Pyke (born March 24, 1984, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian dual-code football player, currently a professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans.

Pyke is the first Canadian national and the first former rugby union professional to play in an Australian Football League premiership team, having played in the 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.

1. he has a wikipedia page? admittedly, 90% of it is afl related
2. the f**k would new zealand care?
3. you're right.

Boba Fett wrote: To your second point - he has scored a try for Canada against the All Blacks.

bazza wrote:

Boba Fett wrote: To your second point - he has scored a try for Canada against the All Blacks.

Did that come up during a discussion in Wellington?

.

yob wrote:I will give $100 to the first person who finds an article about aussie rules in South Africa, sourced from a South African newspaper, by a South African journalist who has never visited Australia, written about a South African game of Aussie Rules, and aimed at a South African audience, this decade.

Boba Fett wrote: To your second point - he has scored a try for Canada against the All Blacks.

IanRitchie wrote:

Boba Fett wrote: To your second point - he has scored a try for Canada against the All Blacks.

an intercept in a hiding in the world cup.