Francis Bourke- 300 Games

[Otis]

I'm only 24 so obviously I've only ever seen Francis playing in the old grand final replays on Fox Footy. The reason I'm posting is because my father used to be a shoe-repair man on Swan St, Richmond between the late 50s to the late 60s, and in that time he was the boot-repair man for the Tigers. In his time working there he had become good friends with Francis Bourke. The two of them used to go out to social events when they were single. My dad was also partly responsible for Francis meeting his wife to be.

It might seem like a 'nothing' story football-wise, but whenever dad cracks out one of those repetitive "back in the day" stories it's usually an old Richmond story.

I wonder if any Tigers in the current line-up will ever reach 'legend' status like Francis did.

 

[Rosy]

Nice little story Otis.

Make the most of those repetitive "back in the day" stories. I wish I could remember all the ones my father in law used to tell us. He had a great story how he was invited to play as a ruckman for Richmond but couldn't afford it and went up to work on the railways in the riverina instead. I regret not writing it down because it was an insight on how players were approached and recruited back then. (He was born in 1908)

I really can't see any players reaching legendary status like St Francis or Jack Dyer etc now the media spotlight highlights any little thing AFL players do. They used to have to be pretty special to stand out from the crowd.

Just the same there will be plenty of Richo stories to reflect on in years to come.

 

[Boyanich]

Two other comments about him. For anyone who only saw his son David play..... they were exact opposites in....  courage.. .  

That's a big call questioning David's courage.  In fact given his shortcomings both physically and ability wise I think his courage was all the more exceptional.
Unfortunatley he didn't have the ammo to back his courage up and he had the injuries to show for it.

David was apparently the build of his Grand Father, Frank BOURKE, who also played for the Tigers, but Frank's career was cut short due to (knee?) injury.

 

[Tigerclan]

I remember towards the end of his career we played Collingwood, not sure of the year, maybe 1979. Rene Kink was in the pocket all alone, the ball was passed to him from the wing, and had his name all over it. Out of no where came Bourke, he totally flattened Kink, who seemed twice his size, he was awesome, and we roared as he took off bouncing the ball up the wing.

 

[Nico]

Went to about every game in 1980, but my dad didn't let me go to the Arden St game with my mates (he refused to go there)...I was filthy on him, but in hindsight being only 13 at the time, I can understand his decision...therefore missed the blood incident which I can remember seeing on the replay that night.

My memory of Francis was when he was running off the ground at VFL park in the late 70s. This was prior to the second siren rule letting the fans on the ground. I ran up to him and gave him a big slap on the back. I vividly remember it was as though I had slapped a brick wall...he was hard as nails. What a tough guy!