Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Jack O'Rourke

Known as
Jack O'Rourke

Born
13 July 1928

Died
11 April 2008 (aged 79)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 20y 284d
Last game: 24y 363d

Height and weight
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 74 kg

Senior clubs
Richmond

Jumper numbers
Richmond: 4

Family links
Jack O'Rourke Senior (Father)Basil O'Rourke (Brother)Frank O'Rourke (Uncle)

Jack O'Rourke

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
RichmondV/AFL1949-1953441343.0545%3
Total1949-1953441343.0545%3

AFL: 5,876th player to appear, 4,605th most games played, 758th most goals kickedRichmond: 484th player to appear, 335th most games played, 50th most goals kicked

Jack O'Rourke was a spectacular and highly effective full forward who should perhaps have achieved a good deal more in the game than he did. As it was, he played 44 VFL games for Richmond between 1949 and 1953, kicking 134 goals. Had he not been such a frequent victim of injury, both totals would have been considerably higher. His best seasons in terms of fitness were 1951 and 1952, in both of which he topped the Tigers' goal kicking list with tallies of 58 and 43 goals respectively.

After Jack Dyer was sacked as Richmond coach at the end of the 1952 season O'Rourke played briefly under his successor, Alby Pannam, but then decided to express his dissatisfaction with the situation by bringing down the curtain on his VFL career. To call his decision disconcerting would be to understate the matter given that he was only 25 years old at the time, and presumably had plenty of good football left in his legs.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.