Burke was the speculation of a move to the AFL for the latter part of the year, following an impressive debut season with the Kerry senior team, and his decision to sign with the Geelong Cats – where Dingle’s Mark O’Connor and Oisin Mullin from Mayo are on the roster – was confirmed a few weeks ago.

The Milltown/Castlemaine club man has just come off a nearly day-long journey from Mid Kerry to Geelong, to the south of Melbourne, and has visited his new home at GMHBA Stadium. Burke has signed with the Cats as a Category B Rookie for the 2025 season, and has spoken via the team’s media channel about his decision to join the 2022 AFL Premiership champions.

“The professionalism of the sport [AFL] stood out to me. Back home [Gaelic football] is obviously an amateur sport and everything, but seeing the professionalism and the facilities here it is hard to get our head around. The change and the personal nature of the sport, it is weird to see how much you can improve having that environment around you.

“At home I am an explosive kind of player with a strong running game, with pace and a fast player,” Burke said, and his new team will be hoping he can transfer that athleticism and speed to his new game, where playing with an oval ball will be one of the major challenges for the 21-year-old.

Burke also spoke of the draw of the Geelong club. where he will link up with former Kerry minor, Mark O’Connor, who has established himself as one of the most successful Irish players in the AFL.

“There were probably other places they could have gone but seeing guys like Zach Tuohy and the other Irish players here, it makes everything a lot easier because you feel more comfortable,” Burke said.

“Everything with Geelong so far has been super smooth, they are very accommodating of all Irish players. That is why there is so many here, it has been very good so far.

“When Mark O’Connor originally came over here, seeing him play in a Grand Final gave plenty of interest to people back home because he was a local. I met him and Oisin [Mullin] back at home when they were over there recently, seeing them play and especially Oisin cause he is closer in age, it shows a pathway to know you can follow them. He also got into the team this year which was exciting, it was a journey that I could follow really.”