Matthew Peter Burke (born 15 September 1964) is an Australian former rugby union and rugby league footballer. He later served as a Waverley Council lifeguard on Bondi Beach.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Matthew Peter Burke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 September 1964 St Margaret's Hospital, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
Born in St Margaret's Hospital in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.,[2] Burke attended Waverley College in Sydney's eastern suburbs, graduating in 1981.[3]
Rugby career
Burke made his debut for the Australian national rugby union team on 3 November 1984.[2] He played 23 tests for the Wallabies on the wing and scored 15 tries, including five in the 1987 Rugby World Cup.[2] Between 1988 and 1992, he played rugby league for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Eastern Suburbs Roosters and Balmain Tigers in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.[4] After a promising start, Burke's professional career stalled and he was relegated to lower grade football with Easts and Balmain.[4]
Post-rugby career
For some time after retirement, Burke ran the Mill Hill pub in Bondi Junction.[5] He later spent two seasons as a Waverley Council lifeguard on Bondi Beach,[5] appearing on the factual television programme Bondi Rescue.[6] As of November 2009, he was a proprietor of the Primavera Espresso Bar in the Sydney CBD.[5]
Personal life
Burke's father, Peter, was a rugby league international and played for Manly-Warringah.[4][7] Burke has three brothers, Brad, Daniel and Patrick.[7]
References
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