Nathan Burke

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 (age 54)
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)
2020–2023 Western Bulldogs (W) 46 (18–27–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2003.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2023.
Career highlights
  • 3× Trevor Barker Award: 1993, 1996, 1999
  • 4× 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

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

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.[citation needed] 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).[citation needed]

Post-playing career

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

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.[citation needed]

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

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 48 16 2 0 179 96 275 40 33 0.1 0.0 11.2 6.0 17.2 2.5 2.1
1988 St Kilda 29 22 6 8 321 121 442 70 38 0.3 0.4 14.6 5.5 20.1 3.2 1.7
1989 St Kilda 29 21 12 4 265 143 408 66 38 0.6 0.2 12.6 6.8 19.4 3.1 1.8
1990 St Kilda 29 14 2 1 133 110 243 32 27 0.1 0.1 9.5 7.9 17.4 2.3 1.9
1991 St Kilda 29 23 3 1 316 180 496 64 53 0.1 0.0 13.7 7.8 21.6 2.8 2.3
1992 St Kilda 3 24 9 6 296 158 454 64 69 0.4 0.3 12.3 6.6 18.9 2.7 2.9
1993 St Kilda 3 20 9 7 322 148 470 68 72 0.5 0.4 16.1 7.4 23.5 3.4 3.6
1994 St Kilda 3 22 7 3 335 173 508 84 77 0.3 0.1 15.2 7.9 23.1 3.8 3.5
1995 St Kilda 3 18 9 7 318 122 440 75 49 0.5 0.4 17.7 6.8 24.4 4.2 2.7
1996 St Kilda 3 22 15 9 434 146 580 92 64 0.7 0.4 19.7 6.6 26.4 4.2 2.9
1997 St Kilda 3 25 9 14 469 200 669 99 75 0.4 0.6 18.8 8.0 26.8 4.0 3.0
1998 St Kilda 3 22 10 12 343 187 530 81 75 0.5 0.5 15.6 8.5 24.1 3.7 3.4
1999 St Kilda 3 21 4 1 299 157 456 96 49 0.2 0.0 14.2 7.5 21.7 4.6 2.3
2000 St Kilda 3 22 8 7 363 141 504 92 52 0.4 0.3 16.5 6.4 22.9 4.2 2.4
2001 St Kilda 3 10 10 2 127 82 209 28 22 1.0 0.2 12.7 8.2 20.9 2.8 2.2
2002 St Kilda 3 3 3 0 22 16 38 11 10 1.0 0.0 7.3 5.3 12.7 3.7 3.3
2003 St Kilda 3 18 6 10 132 89 221 57 38 0.3 0.6 7.3 4.9 12.3 3.2 2.1
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 2023 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 6 1 5 0 17% 6 (conf.) 7 (conf.)
2021 Western Bulldogs 9 5 4 0 56% 8 14
2022 (S6) Western Bulldogs 10 4 5 1 40% 7 14
2022 (S7) Western Bulldogs 11 7 4 0 64% 7 18
2023 Western Bulldogs 10 1 9 0 10% 18 18
Career totals 46 18 27 1 39%

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. ^ a b 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 21 August 2024.