Martin Pike (Australian footballer)
Martin Pike | |||
---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||
Full name | Martin Pike | ||
Nickname(s) | Pikey | ||
Date of birth | 14 November 1972 | ||
Place of birth | Glenelg, South Australia | ||
Original team(s) | Norwood (SANFL) | ||
Draft |
No. 9, 1992 national draft No. 42, 1996 national draft No. 33, 2000 national draft | ||
Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
Weight | 92 kg (203 lb) | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1993–1994 | Melbourne | 24 (25) | |
1995–1996 | Fitzroy | 36 (15) | |
1997–2000 | North Melbourne | 81 (19) | |
2001–2005 | Brisbane Lions | 106 | (67)|
Total | 247 (126) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005. | |||
Career highlights | |||
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Martin Pike (born 14 November 1972) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played in four Australian Football League (AFL) premiership sides. A tough, versatile wingman, Pike has been described as a "natural player" of the game.[1] Highlights of his career included a premiership with the North Melbourne Football Club, three more with Brisbane, the final AFL best-and-fairest winner with Fitzroy in 1996, and selection in the 1998 South Australian State-Of-Origin side.
Early career
Pike was born in
Despite his strong on-field performance, Melbourne traded Pike to Fitzroy Football Club at the end of 1994 due to his off-field problems with alcohol.
After playing 14 games for Fitzroy in 1995, Pike played all 22 games in 1996, winning Fitzroy's best-and-fairest award, beating later Port Adelaide captain Matthew Primus for the honour. However, in late 1996, via a deal with the administrator of the Fitzroy Football Club at the time, the Brisbane Bears took over Fitzroy's AFL operations. Pike was not selected as one of the eight Fitzroy players to move north to Brisbane at the end of 1996, largely due to his poor off-field reputation. In July 1996 he was found guilty of drink driving for the third time and was fined $1000, lost his licence for five years and sentenced to six months jail, but avoided having to go to jail, being able to serve the sentence at home under an intensive correction order.[2]
North Melbourne 1997–2000
Hoping in part to capitalise in part on the bad feeling many Victorian based
Pike had a solid year in 1997: North finished third and South Australia included him in their 1998 State of Origin squad. His work off the halfback line and on the wings generated many opportunities for the team's forwards. Pike was a member of the North Melbourne Grand Final team that lost to Adelaide Football Club in 1998 after winning the minor premiership that year before becoming a member of the Kangaroos' premiership winning team in 1999, fulfilling a lifelong ambition.
However, due to poor form in 2000, combined with discipline issues off the field (including a widely reported late arrival to a compulsory club function), North Melbourne delisted him at the end of 2000.[3]
Brisbane Lions 2001–2005
The Brisbane Lions recruited Pike in the
In 2002, Brisbane won their second successive premiership with Pike playing a wide variety of roles. He again played a key role in many of the games won in 2003, including kicking three goals in the final quarter of the preliminary final against the Sydney Swans to get the team into its third successive winning grand final.[3]
The Lions reached their fourth successive grand final in 2004 but lost to Port Adelaide Football Club in the grand final. Pike was disappointed with his performance in that match, and was reportedly involved in an altercation with a club official in the early hours of the morning on return to Brisbane, the only display of the behaviour which caused him problems before signing with the Lions. Despite resulting speculation that his contract would not be renewed he accepted a one-year contract for 2005. However, Pike's season was heavily disrupted by injury and he was unable to add more than a handful of games to his career tally before announcing his retirement on 2 August 2005 with four matches remaining in the regular season.[4]
Statistics
G
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Goals
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K
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Kicks | D
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Disposals | T
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Tackles |
B
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Behinds
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H
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Handballs | M
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Marks
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Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
1993 | Melbourne | 22 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 58 | 40 | 98 | 17 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 7.3 | 5.0 | 12.3 | 2.1 | 0.6 |
1994 | Melbourne | 10 | 16 | 25 | 16 | 102 | 39 | 141 | 49 | 14 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 6.4 | 2.4 | 8.8 | 3.1 | 0.9 |
1995 | Fitzroy | 8 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 130 | 85 | 215 | 53 | 17 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 9.3 | 6.1 | 15.4 | 3.8 | 1.2 |
1996 | Fitzroy | 8 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 359 | 125 | 484 | 99 | 40 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 16.3 | 5.7 | 22.0 | 4.5 | 1.8 |
1997 | North Melbourne | 13 | 24 | 6 | 3 | 236 | 104 | 340 | 65 | 38 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 9.8 | 4.3 | 14.2 | 2.7 | 1.6 |
1998 | North Melbourne | 13 | 19 | 7 | 7 | 172 | 85 | 257 | 44 | 35 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 9.1 | 4.5 | 13.5 | 2.3 | 1.8 |
1999 | North Melbourne | 13 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 150 | 74 | 224 | 46 | 30 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 8.3 | 4.1 | 12.4 | 2.6 | 1.7 |
2000 | North Melbourne | 13 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 181 | 70 | 251 | 61 | 42 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 9.1 | 3.5 | 12.6 | 3.1 | 2.1 |
2001 | Brisbane Lions | 13 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 185 | 100 | 285 | 75 | 32 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 8.4 | 4.5 | 13.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 |
2002 | Brisbane Lions | 13 | 25 | 14 | 13 | 289 | 135 | 424 | 125 | 68 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 11.6 | 5.4 | 17.0 | 5.0 | 2.7 |
2003 | Brisbane Lions | 13 | 25 | 17 | 11 | 234 | 117 | 351 | 118 | 57 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 9.4 | 4.7 | 14.0 | 4.7 | 2.3 |
2004 | Brisbane Lions | 13 | 25 | 27 | 18 | 222 | 114 | 336 | 100 | 40 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 8.9 | 4.6 | 13.4 | 4.0 | 1.6 |
2005 | Brisbane Lions | 13 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 61 | 33 | 94 | 25 | 18 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 6.8 | 3.7 | 10.4 | 2.8 | 2.0 |
Career | 247 | 126 | 110 | 2379 | 1121 | 3500 | 877 | 436 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 9.6 | 4.5 | 14.2 | 3.6 | 1.8 |
After retirement
In February 2006, the
References
- ^ "A double Pike with a high degree of difficulty". The Age. 15 June 2003.
- ^ Butcher, Steve (6 July 1996). "Footballer spared jail for drink driving". The Age. p. 2.
- ^ a b Saltau, Chloe (27 September 2003). "Pike finds life and football rosier". The Age. p. 5.
- ^ Blucher, Peter (3 August 2005). "Reformed villain bows out". The Age. p. 4.
- ^ Martin Pike's player profile at AFL Tables
- ^ Nic Pavlou (President) welcomes Martin Pike to the club Archived 16 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine