Following Sam Campbell's departure at the end of the 2018 season for personal reasons, the Yass Roos held a meeting last Tuesday night, March 5, where Adam Curtois was elected the new head coach.
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Curtois, who retired from playing after the 2018 season, is aware that he has high expectations to live up to following the tenures of Campbell and, prior to that, Terry Lemon.
"It is big shoes to fill, they've both been pretty good around the club for a number of years," Curtois said.
"I'm pretty excited and looking forward to doing things my own way and doing things differently this year."
The changes which Curtois intends to implement involve players in different positions to previous years, more rotations, and a different style of football.
Much like Campbell did in 2018, Curtois has stepped right off the field and into the coaching role, which is sure to give him highly useful insights into the mindsets and abilities of his former teammates.
"I have played for the Roos for the last two seasons and had some success," Curtois said.
"I know what makes the team successful and I know all the players inside and out, so that should make it a pretty easy transition for me into coaching."
The team has retained the same core of players that it had last year, and Curtois said that with such an "abundance of talent", he is confident that the Roos can make another push for finals.
"It's my job to get the best out of players," he said.
"That's the ultimate goal, everyone's very keen to go one step better than last year. We know it will be a hard road ahead of us, but we know everyone is committed."
Curtois will be supported by Jarrad Forlonge in the assistant coach's role, and the team will be captained by Leigh Thompson, with Steven O'Brien and Cameron Attwell as vice captains.
The 2019 ACT AFL Men's Fourth Grade season will kick off on the weekend of Saturday April 13.
The Roos will hold their season launch on March 23 at the Golf Club from 6.30pm. RSVP to Jenene Forlonge on 0417 891 955 by March 20 for catering purposes.