Nathan Burke (born 6 February 1970) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er and former coach of the team in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

competition (AFLW). A tough

rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...

, Burke is considered one of the most courageous footballers to play for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

. 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.Love and respect, heart and soul: Burke enters Australian Football Hall of Fame
by Chris Nice for Saints.com.au 24 August 2021 Dozens of concussions during Burke's career led to him using a helmet. In 2021, he was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

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. 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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, 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 Daniel Patrick "Spud" Frawley (8 September 1963 – 9 September 2019) was an Australian rules football player, coach, administrator, commentator and media personality. He played 240 games for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football ...

and

Stewart Loewe Stewart Loewe (born 23 May 1968) is a former Australian rules football player for the St Kilda Football Club. Nicknamed "Buckets" for his big hands and the way he was able to mark the ball with ease, Loewe debuted in 1986 for the St Kilda Foo ...

, who stayed on the ground in honour of Burke following his parade lap (with

Alex Lloyd Alexander Lloyd (Birth name, né Wasiliev; born 19 September 1974) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', ''Watching Angels Mend'', ''Distant Light (Alex Lloyd album), Distant Light'' and ''Alex Lloyd (al ...

'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

with St Kilda, but was instead appointed by the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

to their head coach role from the

2020 AFL Women's season The 2020 AFL Women's season was the fourth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 14 clubs and ran from 7 February to 22 March; it ...

Personal life

Burke's daughter,

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, plays for in the

competition, and made her playing debut against the , whom he coaches. Burke's uncle Nick Bloom also played for St Kilda.

Playing statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 48 , , 16 , , 2 , , 0 , , 179 , , 96 , , 275 , , 40 , , 33 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 11.2 , , 6.0 , , 17.2 , , 2.5 , , 2.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 22 , , 6 , , 8 , , 321 , , 121 , , 442 , , 70 , , 38 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 14.6 , , 5.5 , , 20.1 , , 3.2 , , 1.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 21 , , 12 , , 4 , , 265 , , 143 , , 408 , , 66 , , 38 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 12.6 , , 6.8 , , 19.4 , , 3.1 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 14 , , 2 , , 1 , , 133 , , 110 , , 243 , , 32 , , 27 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 9.5 , , 7.9 , , 17.4 , , 2.3 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 23 , , 3 , , 1 , , 316 , , 180 , , 496 , , 64 , , 53 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 13.7 , , 7.8 , , 21.6 , , 2.8 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 24 , , 9 , , 6 , , 296 , , 158 , , 454 , , 64 , , 69 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 12.3 , , 6.6 , , 18.9 , , 2.7 , , 2.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 20 , , 9 , , 7 , , 322 , , 148 , , 470 , , 68 , , 72 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 16.1 , , 7.4 , , 23.5 , , 3.4 , , 3.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 22 , , 7 , , 3 , , 335 , , 173 , , 508 , , 84 , , 77 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 15.2 , , 7.9 , , 23.1 , , 3.8 , , 3.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 18 , , 9 , , 7 , , 318 , , 122 , , 440 , , 75 , , 49 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 17.7 , , 6.8 , , 24.4 , , 4.2 , , 2.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 22 , , 15 , , 9 , , 434 , , 146 , , 580 , , 92 , , 64 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 19.7 , , 6.6 , , 26.4 , , 4.2 , , 2.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 25 , , 9 , , 14 , , 469 , , 200 , , 669 , , 99 , , 75 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 18.8 , , 8.0 , , 26.8 , , 4.0 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 22 , , 10 , , 12 , , 343 , , 187 , , 530 , , 81 , , 75 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 15.6 , , 8.5 , , 24.1 , , 3.7 , , 3.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 21 , , 4 , , 1 , , 299 , , 157 , , 456 , , 96 , , 49 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 14.2 , , 7.5 , , 21.7 , , 4.6 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 22 , , 8 , , 7 , , 363 , , 141 , , 504 , , 92 , , 52 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 16.5 , , 6.4 , , 22.9 , , 4.2 , , 2.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 10 , , 10 , , 2 , , 127 , , 82 , , 209 , , 28 , , 22 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 12.7 , , 8.2 , , 20.9 , , 2.8 , , 2.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 3 , , 3 , , 0 , , 22 , , 16 , , 38 , , 11 , , 10 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.3 , , 5.3 , , 12.7 , , 3.7 , , 3.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 18 , , 6 , , 10 , , 132 , , 89 , , 221 , , 57 , , 38 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 7.3 , , 4.9 , , 12.3 , , 3.2 , , 2.1 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, 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'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , 6 , , 1 , , 5 , , 0 , , 17% , , 6 (conf.) , , 7 (conf.) , - ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal",

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 9 , , 5 , , 4 , , 0 , , 56% , , 8 , , 14 , - ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal", 2022 (S6) , , 10 , , 4 , , 5 , , 1 , , 40% , , 7 , , 14 , - ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal", 2022 (S7) , , 11 , , 7 , , 4 , , 0 , , 64% , , 7 , , 18 , - ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal",

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , 10 , , 1 , , 9 , , 0 , , 10% , , 18 , , 18 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 46 ! 18 ! 27 ! 1 ! 39% ! colspan=2,

Honours and achievements

*Team **

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

( St Kilda):

** Pre-Season Cup ( St Kilda):

*Individual **

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

: 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999 ** Herald Sun Player of the Year Award: 1996 ** Trevor Barker Award (St Kilda F.C. Best & Fairest): 1993, 1996, 1999 ** St Kilda F.C. Captain: 1996-2000 ** Australian Representative Honours in

International Rules Football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

: 1999 ** Victorian Representative Honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Nathan Trevor Barker Award winners All-Australians (AFL) St Kilda Football Club players Victorian State of Origin players 1970 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australia international rules football team players AFL Women's coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees