Crows’ fiction friction

IN AFL football, rumours sure do travel fast.

And in a week when Crows coach Don Pyke has been the subject of his fair share — namely that he and Josh Jenkins were in a punch-up and that his big forward was dropped for leaking stories to the media — he’s angrily responded to them.

Showing disgust when addressing the rumours during a press conference, Pyke said it was time for more rigorous sorting of fact from fiction.

“I find the whole thing, to be honest, if it wasn’t as serious as I take it, it’s quite laughable,” he said of the rumour that he and Jenkins came to blows.

“At the moment, what we’re facing is the industry, and we’re seeing that with other people talking, is people want to run with absolute fiction, absolute fiction and just put that into the mainstream and say well, that’s what happened … the concept of Josh and I being involved in a physical altercation, is laughable.

“But I take it quite personally because it’s disrespectful to suggest me, as a coach, would get involved in something like that with one of my players. And when that gets thrown up, I go: ‘ Where do we stop?’ Because we’re now at a point whereby we can just put anything we want out there and it sticks and it’s based on absolutely nothing.

“He’s said it, I said it, but people still want to think it’s fair game to put out things which are not fact. Someone wants to run with, we had a fight? I’m 80kg, he’s 100kg, I’m not sure how that’s going to work. If it wasn’t as serious as it is, it’s laughable, to be honest.”

Last week, Pyke was addressing rumours that he had “lost his players”, and for a second week he’s had to respond to more rumour.

Pyke also described the report that Jenkins had been dropped for leaking information to the media in simple terms: “Complete fabrication.”