What no one has mentioned about Mike is this.....he kicks accurately because he didn't have bad habits coming into our sport. The height of his kicks at goal is not high but he has learned to kick straight. He drops and strikes the ball correctly. If he is 30 metres out in a GF, and after the siren needs to nail the goal, I'd be much happier that he has it than Goodes.
When I learned to play footy many moons ago you were taught to move the ball on. Whether that be a handball in front of you, tap on or kick to space then chase if there is no other option etc. In the 90's coaching Auskick all of a sudden the vogue was to take possession regardless of the situation to deny the opposition possession. There was a drill of tapping the ball infront of you and learning to control the footy in front of you on both sides of the body. Guess what, that drill was deleted. Watch Mike....when he marks he is always looking for the handball or to move it on. That deft tap to LRT in the last quarter was Skilton type stuff. He couldn't take clean possession so opened up the forward 30 for LRT. Why does he take marks in the forward line....because heplays in front. That mark he took running back in the forward line in the 3rd quarter was smart play because he gave our player a spot to kick it to. He does the old fashioned stuff because he is smart and reads the game well and he doesn't have his brain clogged up with preconceived ideas. He plays a simple commonsense game that works.
I got the impression in the game against Collingwood that Pyke was under instructions to knock the ball down rather than mark it. He clearly can mark it and kick goals. Perhaps if he had taken a couple of contested marks they would have taken out the pIES.
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