Pardon my ignorance but I don't have a clue either.

John Burke was a hard, old fashioned prop forward, in the days of proper contested scrums. He signed for wakefield at the same time more or less as Bill Ashurst.
All I can say is, he wouldn't be out of place now and with todays fitness regimes he would be awsome.

From Wikipedia...

John Burke (birth registered January 1948[1 — 9 June 2013 (aged 65)) born in Wakefield, was a professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, and 1970s, playing at representative level for Great Britain (non-Test matches), and at club level for Normanton, Leeds, Keighley, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Castleford, and Wakefield Trinity (Heritage № 852), as a prop, he died in Wakefield.[2[3[4

Did/does he hold the record for the number of red cards?

Hmm...not sure, but I did think he got sent off a few times !!

Including on his debut for us I think? Away at Hull KR?

Arguments used to rage as to whether it was John Burke or Widnes' Jim Mills who had been sent off the most. Ironically they came up against each other in the 1979 Wembley final . One of his greatest games was against St Helens in the semi and I recall him being carried off the field aloft by his team mates - a GREAT player. I also remember him as a kid and he was a little b****r. For all his aggression on the field, off field he was as gentle as a lamb.

JB made his debut for Trinity in the 'A' team on Wednesday night and got sent off, the following Sunday he made his debut for the first team and got sent off. I don't think that he got sent off for us again. As others have said, a cracking, straight forward, no nonsense prop was John - the opposition new not to mess about with him!