Nathan Burke

Nathan Burke (born 6 February 1970) is a former Australian rules footballer and current coach of the Western Bulldogs team in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW).

This article is about the Australian rules footballer. For the musician, see Nathan Burke (musician).

Nathan Burke
Personal information
Full name Nathan Burke
Date of birth (1970-02-06) 6 February 1970
Original team(s) Pines
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Position(s) Utility
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1987–2003 St Kilda 323 (123)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
2020– Western Bulldogs (W) 43 (18–24–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2003.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 7, 2023.
Career highlights
  • 3x Trevor Barker Award: 1993, 1996, 1999
  • 4x All Australian: 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999
  • St Kilda Team of the Century
  • St Kilda Hall of Fame
  • Australian Football Hall of Fame
  • St Kilda Pre-Season Premiership Player: 1996
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

A tough rover, Burke is considered one of the most courageous footballers to play for the St Kilda Football Club.[1] Burke set the club record for most games—323—at his retirement, which remained the benchmark until broken by former teammate Robert Harvey in round 7, 2006.[2] Dozens of concussions during Burke's career led to him using a helmet.[3][4]

In 2021, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.[2]

VFL/AFL playing career

Burke was co-captain in St Kilda's 1996 AFL Ansett Australia Cup winning side – the club's first AFL Cup win.[5][6]

He started his football playing career with the Pines Football Club. His professional career spanned 1987–2003 despite missing most of 2002 with a knee injury, with Burke deciding to retire late in the season, in the Round 19 clash with Richmond, which the Saints won by 80 points. It was also notable for the fact that the coaching panel of Richmond that day included fellow St Kilda teammates Danny Frawley and Stewart Loewe, who stayed on the ground in honour of Burke following his parade lap (with Alex Lloyd's "Amazing" played at the ground).

Post-playing career

Burke had been a director of the St Kilda Football Club from 2008 to 2015. He had joined the board with fellow player Andrew Thompson.

He is also a regular expert commentator on ABC Grandstand football coverage, an AFL analyst for Fox Sports News, and co hosts the Sunday Session on ABC radio. He is a feature article writer for Inside Football magazine also. This work complements his corporate guest speaking and school programs.

In 2015 he rejoined the AFL Match Review Panel, a role he held prior to joining the Board at St Kilda.

Coaching career

In September 2019, Burke was due to become assistant coach in the AFL Women's with St Kilda, but was instead appointed by the Western Bulldogs to their head coach role from the 2020 AFL Women's season.[7]

Personal life

Burke's daughter, Alice, plays for St Kilda in the AFL Women's competition, and made her playing debut against the Western Bulldogs, whom he coaches.[8] Burke's uncle Nick Bloom also played for St Kilda.[9]

Playing statistics
[10]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1987 St Kilda 4816201799627540330.10.011.26.017.22.52.1
1988 St Kilda 29226832112144270380.30.414.65.520.13.21.7
1989 St Kilda 292112426514340866380.60.212.66.819.43.11.8
1990 St Kilda 29142113311024332270.10.19.57.917.42.31.9
1991 St Kilda 29233131618049664530.10.013.77.821.62.82.3
1992 St Kilda 3249629615845464690.40.312.36.618.92.72.9
1993 St Kilda 3209732214847068720.50.416.17.423.53.43.6
1994 St Kilda 3227333517350884770.30.115.27.923.13.83.5
1995 St Kilda 3189731812244075490.50.417.76.824.44.22.7
1996 St Kilda 32215943414658092640.70.419.76.626.44.22.9
1997 St Kilda 32591446920066999750.40.618.88.026.84.03.0
1998 St Kilda 322101234318753081750.50.515.68.524.13.73.4
1999 St Kilda 3214129915745696490.20.014.27.521.74.62.3
2000 St Kilda 3228736314150492520.40.316.56.422.94.22.4
2001 St Kilda 3101021278220928221.00.212.78.220.92.82.2
2002 St Kilda 333022163811101.00.07.35.312.73.73.3
2003 St Kilda 3186101328922157380.30.67.34.912.33.22.1
Career 323 124 92 4674 2269 6943 1119 841 0.4 0.3 14.5 7.0 21.5 3.5 2.6

Coaching statistics
Statistics correct to the end of the 2021 season[11]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
2020 Western Bulldogs 615017%6 (conf.)7 (conf.)
2021 Western Bulldogs 954056%814
Career totals 15 6 9 0 40%

Honours and achievements
Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
1987 —
1988 3
1989 —
1990 —
1991 —
1992 10
1993 6
1994 4
1995 10
1996 20
1997 18
1998 4
1999 11
2000 6
2001 1
2002 —
2003 2
Total 95
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

References
  1. Sainter of the Decade: Nathan Burke's unlimited courage from Saints.com.au 14 April 2020
  2. Love and respect, heart and soul: Burke enters Australian Football Hall of Fame by Chris Nice for Saints.com.au 24 August 2021
  3. The AFL players to have worn a helmet from Fox Sports 14 July 2015
  4. Burke: Brayshaw helmet a no-brainer from Herald Sun 4 July 2017
  5. "AFL 1996 Ansett Cup Grand Final – St Kilda v Carlton". Slattery Media Group. 23 March 1996. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  6. "AFL 1996 Ansett Cup Grand Final – St Kilda v Carlton – St Kilda holds up the trophy after winning the 1996 Ansett Cup". Slattery Media Group. 23 March 1996. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  7. Cherny, Daniel (19 September 2019). "Burke's Bulldogs job part of Frawley's legacy". The Age. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  8. Caffrey, Oliver (30 January 2021). "'We will treasure it forever': AFLW dad and daughter's 'photo of the year'". Seven News. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  9. "'Hard' Bloom passes". afl.com.audate=2011-07-26. Archived from the original on 8 September 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  10. Nathan Burke's player profile at AFL Tables
  11. "Nathan Burke - Coaching Statistics". australianfootball.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
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