Nathan Burke


Nathan Burke is a former Australian rules footballer and current coach of the team in the AFL Women's competition. He was a tough rover who always backed himself in a contest and was one of the most courageous footballers to play for the St Kilda Football Club. He set the club record for most games at his retirement, with 323 games which was broken by former team-mate Robert Harvey in round 7, 2006. His tough playing style led to him using a helmet. In 2019 he was elevated to Legend status in the St Kilda Hall of Fame. One of only 9 Saints to achieve this honour. Burke's uncle Nick Bloom also played for St Kilda.

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 18 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.

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.

Playing statistics

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1987
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1988
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1989
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1990
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1991
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1992
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1993
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1994
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1995
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1996
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1997
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1998
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1999
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2000
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2001
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2002
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2003
! 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

Honours and achievements