David King has lauded Sydney’s decision to add Don Pyke to its coaching staff.
Pyke joined the Swans as an assistant coach last October after spending four seasons as the senior coach of the Adelaide Crows, guiding the club to the 2017 Grand Final.
King says Pyke and Sydney senior coach John Longmire’s contrasting philosophies makes them the “perfect marriage” with the Swans currently the competition’s highest scoring team.
“They (Sydney) got this 100 per cent right,” North Melbourne champion King told SEN’s Whateley.
“Your salary cap from an off-field point of view, you lose 30 per cent. It goes from somewhere close to $9.5 million down to closer to $6 million, and the Swans decide to go and get Don Pyke.
“It’s the perfect marriage.
“You’ve got a defensive coach in John Longmire challenged by the offensive coach in Don Pyke – and you can see it.
“We’re all talking about their ball use, well, it has to have come from somewhere. They’ve got the best attack in the competition right now.
“They know that if they get challenged to hold up defensively, they’ve got that plan, they’ve had the absorption plan in that defensive 50 for years.
“I want to invest in them – 2024 or 2025 – I want to back them now for the premiership.”
Sydney put their unbeaten start to 2021 on the line against reigning premiers Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.
The third-placed Swans and second-placed Tigers sit 2-0 going into this weekend’s clash.
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