[3][4] Burns was a tall ruckman and full-back who made his debut in 1881, aged 16 years,[5] with Ballarat Imperials before transferring to powerful VFA club South Melbourne in 1885.

Following the Victorian Football League's formation in 1897, Burns would play a further 89 games before his retirement during the 1902 season, which was due to a leg injury he sustained while playing for Victoria against South Australia on 26 June 1902[7] rather than any loss of form.

[8] Burns served as Geelong's timekeeper from his retirement in 1902[9] until the end of the 1941 VFL season (the sixtieth year of his association with Australian rules football).

[11] Burns was the first player in elite Australian rules football to play 250 games, achieving this feat in Round 17 of the 1898 VFL season, and subsequently the first to play 300 games, achieving this feat in Round 2 of 1902.

If these are included, Burns was also the first player to play 300 career senior games, a feat he achieved in Round 6 of 1901, and his total of 319 career senior games was an elite Victorian elite football record until it was broken by Gordon Coventry in Round 10 of 1937; Coventry retired at the end of that season with 331 career senior games.