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EARLY LIFE Bourke was born and raised on a dairy farm in the Victorian country town of Nathalia, Victoria . He was the son of Frank Bourke. He attended Assumption College , for whom he played. He has credited Brother Domnus as one of his principal football influences. At age 14 he was told that he could no longer play football due to a Heart Murmur . He continued to play anyway. He then moved to the Nathalia team as a forward. AT RICHMOND Bourke went to the Tigers from Nathalia. He joined Richmond in 1967. He initially played on the Wing but later moved into defence, the Full-back and Half-back positions. For the first three years of Bourke’s stay at Richmond he travelled back to the farm each weekend. Bourke played in the Richmond premiership sides of 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974 and 1980. He was club captain in 1976 and 1977. In 1982 and 1983 he was the club coach. His team lost to Carlton in the 1982 Grand Final . Bourke also coached the team to a loss in the 1983 Night Grand Final . Bourke was known as a courageous player. He inspired his team-mates and beat off opponents with persistence. Richmond supporters dubbed him “St. Francis”. His persistence was recognised by Richmond when it awarded him the club’s “Most Determined” trophy in 1967, 1972, 1977 and 1980. Just as he had continued to play after being warned not to when a Teenager he often played with injuries that would have incapacitated others. In 1971, in the game against Hawthorn he broke a bone in his leg. Nevertheless he continued to play and after about 15 minutes was able to walk off the ground. The injury was serious enough to keep him off the field for the next nine games. In 1977, during the Easter weekend, he was assaulted in his hotel and received facial swelling and two black eyes. It did not stop him playing (and winning) on Easter Monday . During a match against North Melbourne in 1980 he received a blow to his face causing a large cut that bled profusely. At the time there was no “blood rule” (requiring bleeding players to leave the field until the bleeding is stopped) and Bourke went to the forward line. Although he could barely see through the bleeding he dived full-length to take a chest Mark then kick an important goal to ensure Richmond had a narrow win. Bourke is the third-longest player for Richmond with only Kevin Bartlett and Jack Dyer having played more games for Richmond than his 302. He finished third in the Brownlow Medal for 1976. AFTER RICHMOND After finishing at Richmond in 1983 he was a specialist coach for Melbourne but returned to Richmond from 1992 until 1994 as Chairman of Selectors. Bourke also a useful cricketer for the Camberwell Cricket Club as an All-rounder . As of 2005 he runs a Newsagency in Canterbury, Victoria . PLAYING STATISTICS
FOOTBALL HONOURS
SEE ALSO Australian Football Hall Of Fame EXTERNAL LINKS |
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