Shaun Burgoyne


Shaun Playford Burgoyne is an Australian rules footballer playing with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. Burgoyne played with Port Adelaide through to 2002 to 2009 before being traded to Hawthorn in late 2009, where he has now played the majority of his games. With 35 finals appearances, Burgoyne has the second most finals appearances of any AFL footballer, behind only Michael Tuck.
At 37 years old, he is currently the oldest active AFL player. He is also the last active AFL player who participated in any AFL Grand Final from 2006 or earlier.

Early life

Burgoyne is the younger brother of former Port Adelaide player Peter Burgoyne and the son of former Port Adelaide player Peter Burgoyne Snr. He is of Indigenous Australian descent and his ancestry can be traced to the Kokatha clan.

AFL career

Port Adelaide career (2002–2009)

Burgoyne made his AFL debut in 2002. He had been a steady contributor across the forward line for Port Adelaide, before becoming a rebounding defender to great effect.
In 2004 Burgoyne played every game for the season and was part of Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL premiership.
After a series of midfield performances that culminated with selection to the All Australian Team in 2006, he was described by retiring Port player Josh Francou as being "as good as Judd".
Burgoyne was important in Port Adelaide's midfield in 2008, despite attracting the opposition's best tagger most weeks. While not reaching the heights of past seasons, he finished fourth in the best and fairest and was second at the club in centre clearances, tackles and inside 50s, and fourth in goals, contested possessions and bounces.
2009 was a disappointing year after injuring his knee in round three and missing three months of footy. He was able to come back and play a few good games late in the year.
Burgoyne was Port Adelaide’s highest paid player and Vice-Captain at the end of the 2009 season.

Hawthorn career (2010–present)

As vice-captain he shocked the football club by requesting a trade to play for a Victorian team in 2010 after his brother had retired. Port traded him to Hawthorn in a complicated deal involving four clubs, with Essendon and Geelong also involved. He was allocated former club champion Shane Crawford's No. 9 jumper.
After having surgery on his knee during the off season that delayed his preparation for the 2010 season, Burgoyne suffered a broken jaw while playing for Box Hill, and later suffered a Hamstring injury. He made his debut against Richmond in Round 8, 2010. Burgoyne played the last sixteen games of the season.
During 2011 Shaun Burgoyne played excellent football for Hawthorn, showcasing his disposal and running skills. He was part of a side that lost the preliminary final to eventual runners-up Collingwood by 3 points.
Burgoyne was part of Hawthorn's losing side in the 2012 AFL Grand Final.

In 2013, Burgoyne's performance in the Preliminary Final against Geelong saw him kick 3 goals and also provide goals assists, with his final goal putting Hawthorn back in front late in the fourth quarter. The match ended the 11-game losing streak against Geelong, in effect since the 2008 Grand Final win.
On 28 September 2013 Burgoyne became a dual Premiership player after Hawthorn defeated Fremantle Football Club in the Grand Final in front of 100,007 fans at the MCG. Burgoyne was the only player to remain completely in his game outfit when the players were presented on stage following the conclusion of the post-match concert.
With Hawthorn's win in the 2015 Grand Final, Burgoyne became a quadruple Premiership player.
On 24 May 2017 it was announced that he would wear number 67 on his guernsey, rather than his usual 9, for the round 10 Sir Doug Nicholls Round game against. This was to commemorate the 1967 referendum which allowed Indigenous Australians to be counted with the general population in the census.
On 28 August 2017 Burgoyne signed a one-year contract extension with Hawthorn keeping him at the club until the end of 2018. In November, he was appointed captain of the Australian international rules football team for the 2017 series.
Burgoyne signed another contract extension to cover the 2019 season in August 2018.
In 2019, Burgoyne was heavily linked to a move to the Gold Coast. Burgoyne himself addressed the speculation, admitting it had been stressful and that he had a big decision to make. On 12 September, it was announced he would remain a Hawk for 2020.

Off-Field Representation

Off the field, Burgoyne has become an important representative for the indigenous Australian sporting community. He was an inaugural member of the Indigenous Players Advisory Board when it was established in 2011 and was appointed Chair of the Board in 2016.
He is also a regular guest on The Marngrook Footy Show.

Personal life

Burgoyne is married to Amy née Phillips, who is the daughter of Port Adelaide legend Greg Phillips and sister of WNBA and AFLW superstar Erin Phillips. Together they have four children – Nixie, Leni, Ky and Percy.

Statistics

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2001
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2002
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2003
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#F0E68C" | 2004
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2005
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2006
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2007
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2008
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2009
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2010
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2011
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2012
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#F0E68C" | 2013
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#F0E68C" | 2014
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#F0E68C" | 2015
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2016
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2017
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2018
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019
! colspan=3| Career
! 376 !! 290 !! 181 !! 3737 !! 3075 !! 6812 !! 1335 !! 1428 !! 0.8 !! 0.5 !! 9.9 !! 8.2 !! 18.1 !! 3.6 !! 3.8

Honours and achievements

Team
Individual