Ainslie Club coach Chris Rourke has been appointed as coach of the ACT Representative team to play GWS at Manuka in March 2012.
The following is an article reprinted from the Canberra Times.
Rourke given Giant task with ACT youngsters.
BY DAVID POLKINGHORNE
09 Dec, 2011 04:00 AM
Ainslie premiership coach Chris Rourke has been given the task of continuing ACT's dominance over Greater Western Sydney.
AFL Canberra announced yesterday that Rourke will be in charge of the ACT side to take on GWS reserves in a pre-season match next year. And it's a job he's looking forward to.
''I was lucky enough to be a part of it last year as an assistant coach and we saw how the boys came together and over-ran them in the last quarter and hopefully with the young talent we've got in the competition we'll be able to take it up to them again,'' Rourke said.
A largely under-23 ACT team - with each Canberra club to nominate six or seven players for the squad - will play against the Giants seconds on either March 17 or 18, at a ground yet to be determined.
Having won back-to-back ACT premierships with the Tricolours, Rourke was the obvious choice to take over from Mark Armstrong, who led the ACT to a come-from-behind, 12-point victory against the Giants at Ainslie in February.
While last season it was against GWS seniors, their entry into the AFL means it will be their reserves running out this time around.
Superficially the step down to their reserves would seem a big one which, using last season's game as a guide, would make the ACT strong favourites to win comfortably.
But Rourke said the depth of young talent at the Giants' disposal would make it an extremely tough contest.
''If you have a look at what they've drafted, what did they draft, 10 of the top 11 picks from around the country - I'd be happy to have one of the top 10,'' Rourke said.
''I think they'll be very good, you've also got to remember they picked up four or five senior players, like Cornes and Brogan and people like that, they'll be very strong I've got no doubt.''
Meanwhile, Rourke will look to youth to fill the big void left by the departures of Robert Shirley, John Holmes and Ben Hughes.
''We've been recruiting, we think we're going to pick up a couple of good ones but we'll be younger,'' Rourke said. ''Obviously the loss of Shirls will have an impact around the club ... [but] we don't plan on slipping, we see a lot of the young boys stepping up and I think it's a really exciting time for the club.''
Rourke is using the Foxtel Cup to lure players to Ainslie. The Tricolours will play WAFL club West Perth at Blacktown on April 21.
Last Modified on 09/12/2011 10:22