Giant ruckman Matthew "Spider" Burton spent three years on West Coast's list, before going on to be a cult figure at Fremantle and North Melbourne.
West Coast career[]
Drafted in 1990 as a skinny project player, Burton spent his three seasons at West Coast playing with Subiaco. In 1993, the club was forced to cut its list back, and Burton was one of the unlucky ones to be axed.
Fremantle and North Melbourne career[]
When Fremantle joined the league in 1995 Burton was part of the initial squad. He made his debut in the Dockers' first ever game, becoming the tallest player to appear in the AFL (although he has since been surpassed by Aaron Sandilands). He played 70 games in five years at the Dockers, but fell out of favour in 1999 and was delisted at the end of the year. North Melbourne picked Burton up in the draft and he played 77 games in four years at the Roos before retiring.
Post-AFL career[]
A trained accountant, Burton did some work with the AFL Players Association. He was appointed Fremantle's ruck coach in 2011.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | WAFL | Gm | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 0 | Subi | 20 | 9 | ||||||||
| 1992 | 0 | 18 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1993 | 0 | 24 | 11 |
References[]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Burton
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/M/Matthew_Burton.html