see below an extract from the local paper
WHEN Kym Burke started playing junior football for Broadview in 1978, Malcolm Fraser was prime minister, bell-bottom trousers were in vogue and The Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive had just hit the top of the charts.
Four decades on, the onballer will play his 400th senior game for his beloved Tigers this week in a C6 amateur league clash with Gepps Cross.
Burke, 45, was close to missing out on the milestone, after snapping his achilles in his 379th game.
“I’m just glad I made it, really,” Burke says.
“I didn’t think I was going to play again but everything’s good and now I finally made it.”
The Modbury resident made his senior debut for the club in 1986.
He has gone on to win seven premierships, played in 13 grand finals and won an association best and fairest medal (1995).
Burke says the game has changed a lot during that time.
“It’s not as hard as it used to be.
“It used to be bang, crash . . . but you can’t do that anymore they’ve softened it up,” he says.
Burke, whose nickname “Radar” stems from his fondness for kicking rather than handpassing, says he loves the mateship footy provides.
That is why he sat out a few games to set up his 400th game against friends and rivals from Gepps Cross.
“I’ve got a fair few mates from Geppies and I wanted to involve them as well,” he says.
As for future milestones, Burke is taking it one game at a time, he says.
“I wake up Sunday morning and the legs are a bit sore.
“I’m getting more injuries as I get older but I still hang on and do it.”
Broadview president Brenton Costello says the club is proud of Burke’s achievement.
“It’s fantastic that you get people that devoted to the club. As a player he was a terrific little rover hard at the ball,” Costello says.
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