Brett Kirk
| Brett Kirk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Personal information | |||
| Original team(s) | North Albury Football Club (NSW) | ||
| Debut | Round 19, 1999, Sydney Swans vs. Kangaroos, at SCG | ||
| Height / weight | 184cm, 80 kg | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
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Sydney Swans (1999–2010) 241 games, 84 goals | |||
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1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2010. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
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| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Brett Kirk (born 25 October 1976) is a former Australian rules football player of the Sydney Swans, and is known colloquially as "Kirky", "Captain Kirk", during the 2005 AFL Finals Series, "Captain Blood" and by teammates as "Hippy". Kirk is a hard working and onfield leader who has played in a premiership with the Sydney Swans.
Early career
Kirk grew up in Albury, New South Wales. He was a standout for the North Albury Football Club in the highly competitive Ovens & Murray Football League before being drafted to the Sydney Swans as a rookie.
AFL career
Kirk was elevated from the Swans rookie list and made his senior debut in 1999, despite having previously been cut from the supplementary list.
For a while, he struggled to cement his place in the team, but since Paul Roos replaced Rodney Eade as coach, his career has blossomed. He has gained a reputation as a tough player, willing to put his body on the line and full of determination.
He was runner-up for the clubs best and fairest award in both 2003 and 2004, making the All Australian Team in 2004. After the resignation of Stuart Maxfield from the Sydney captaincy in the early rounds of the 2005 premiership season, Kirk was one of the six players in the captaincy rotation. He captained the club for 4 games and was later named the best and fairest in the 2005 premiership winning team.
In 2006, Kirk was awarded the AFLPA's Robert Rose Award for most courageous player jointly with Glenn Archer.
In 2007, Brett Kirk has won his second best and fairest award. Kirk polled in all the 23 matches he played in 2007, amassing a total of 461 votes.
Kirk is one of the most prolific tacklers in recent years. He currently has the second-most tackles in recorded history (recorded since 1987 and behind only Tony Liberatore) led the league in tackles each season betwwen 2003 and 2009, except for 2006, when he came second, one tackle behind James McDonald.[1]
During the first half of the 2008 season, former Collingwood legend, now Fox Sports commentator Tony Shaw, praised Brett Kirk for his consistency as a leader and a player over the past few years, and rated him as the best captain in the league. He noted that with the departure of great team leaders and club legends like Nathan Buckley for Collingwood, Michael Voss for the Brisbane Lions and James Hird for Essendon, the AFL had lost much of its leadership, and did not hesitate to name Brett Kirk as one of the few who has taken the mantle of the league's most influential and consistent leaders, alongside players such as that of Brisbane's Jonathan Brown. Shaw said that though Kirk may not have the speed or skills to rival players like Chris Judd, Gary Ablett, Sam Mitchell and Sydney Swans teammate Adam Goodes, he certainly had the toughness, strength, fitness, consistency and leadership skills to be considered as one of the AFL's best leaders since his debut.
Brett Kirk is widely known as a tagger. He has shadowed players like, Chris Judd, Sam Mitchell and Brisbane Lions Simon Black, the elite players of the league and kept them shut out of the game. He is one of the most respected players of the AFL and has continued to tackle hard and lead the Swans in 2010.
On May 19, 2010, Kirk announced his retirement effective as of the end of the 2010 season. He surpassed Jared Crouch's Swans record of 194 consecutive AFL matches against Geelong in round 18, 2010. Kirk played his final and 200th consecutive game when he faced the Western Bulldogs in the second round of the AFL finals on Saturday 11 September 2010. It is the fifth longest such streak, and is one of two Sydney Swans (the other being Adam Goodes) in the top 5.[2]
Personal life
In 2008, Kirk was given the honour of meeting with the Dalai Lama during his Australian tour in which he presented the Dalai Lama with a signed Swans guernsey.[3] Kirk is known as a practicing Buddhist and wears a tattoo of a Buddhist symbol on his back.[4]. His wife's name is Haley and he has one son called Indi.
References
External links
- Brett Kirk's profile on the official website of the Sydney Swans
- Captain Kirk leads next generation – Sydney Morning Herald