Ryan Burton

Ryan Donald Burton (born 31 January 1997) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Southport Sharks in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He previously played professionally for and in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life Ryan Burton was raised in Adelaide, and attended Sacred Heart. He participated in the Auskick program at his primary school. He later played his junior football at PHOS Camden and Sacred Heart. In 2014, he played four games for North Adelaide in the SANFL, all at the age of 17. He was still young enough to play in the 2014 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. He kicked five goals in a game for South Australia against Western Australia.

Late 2014 Burton broke his leg while playing football in an interschool match. He required surgery for the injury, resulting in orthopedic surgeon Matthew Liptak, a former Adelaide Crows player, inserting a metal plate and 10 screws into his leg. Burton spent 2015 in rehabilitation. Before he broke his leg, Burton was the state's hottest 2015 draft prospect.

He played two games early for Box Hill before having an operation to remove the screws and plate in his leg. He came back to play two more Games for Box Hill before getting a call up to play for .

He made his debut in round 21, 2016. He kicked a goal with his very first kick. Burton played four games in a row but he suffered a calf injury during the 2016 Qualifying Final versus the Geelong Cats, and his season ended there.

Entering into his second season, Burton changed from number 35 to the number 5 guernsey following Sam Mitchell’s move to West Coast at the end of the 2016 season.

He earned a Rising Star nomination in round 2, 2017, in a 24 point loss to Adelaide at the MCG, with 26 possessions, nine marks and four tackles.

On 17 July 2017 it was announced that Burton had signed a three-year contract extension to stay at Hawthorn until the end of 2020.

Port Adelaide At the conclusion of the 2018 season and start of the AFL Trade Period, it emerged that Hawthorn were seeking to trade Burton to in order to facilitate the arrival of Chad Wingard. Burton, who was overseas on holiday at the time, was reportedly unhappy with how Hawthorn was treating the trade with him and especially the circumstances with him being a contracted player. Nonetheless, Burton saw the opportunity to return home to South Australia and play for his boyhood club. Burton was officially traded to the Port Adelaide on 17 October.

Burton played 115 AFL matches for Port Adelaide over 7 seasons, before being delisted by the club at the conclusion of the 2025 season. In October 2025, it was reported that Burton could possibly join a third club, and that his manager was in talks with Carlton.

Family

Burton is the son of dual North Adelaide premiership player Craig Burton.

Burton is in a relationship with Brie Abernathy, who is the daughter of former Port Adelaide footballer Bruce Abernathy. 162 !! 25 !! 30 !! 2099 !! 811 !! 2910 !! 751 !! 327 !! 0.2 !! 0.2 !! 13.0 !! 5.0 !! 18.0 !! 4.6 !! 2.0 !! 2