Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Ernest Thomas O'Rourke

Known as
Ernie O'Rourke

Born
8 April 1926

Died
5 February 2024 (aged 97)

Place of death
Cohuna, VIC (3568)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 19y 48d
Last game: 23y 66d

Height and weight
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 71 kg

Senior clubs
Melbourne; North Melbourne

Jumper numbers
Melbourne: 22, 27
North Melbourne: 26

Recruited from
Melbourne (1949)

Ernie O'Rourke

Advanced stats
Club
League
Career span
Games
Goals
Avg
Win %
AKI
AHB
AMK
BV
MelbourneV/AFL1945-194839461.1859%———0
North MelbourneV/AFL1949960.6767%———0
V/AFL1945-194948521.0860%———0
Total1945-194948521.0860%———0

AFL: 5,461st player to appear, 4,451st most games played, 2,015th most goals kickedMelbourne: 653rd player to appear, 408th most games played, 163rd most goals kickedNorth Melbourne: 410th player to appear, 655th most games played, 449th most goals kicked

Ernie O’Rourke was very much a fringe player at Melbourne, being selected on the bench almost as often as in the starting 18. Nevertheless, he was capable of some useful football when selected. After playing 39 games and kicking 46 goals for the Demons between 1945 and 1948 he transferred to North Melbourne, where he played the first nine games of the 1949 season and scored six goals before transferring to VFA side Brighton where he finished the year, and his career, with half a dozen appearances and seven goals.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Publications

Footnotes

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