Ainslie welcome back footy guns for 2022 AFL Canberra season

Tuggeranong and Queanbeyan launched round one on Friday night, with Belconnen and Gungahlin, and Ainslie and Eastlake to begin their 2022 campaigns on Saturday afternoon.

Ainslie's first grade men's team will be boosted by the return of key players after a stint playing for clubs in more regional areas last year.

"Jack and Tom Powell, Hayden Armstrong, Henry Delves, just to name four that have come back from the country," coach Jordan Doering said.

"We had quite a few last year decide that they wanted to go and experience something different, which they did.

"And now they're coming back, which is great for us."

Doering said the battle of keeping talent in Canberra was an ongoing challenge, but not necessarily a new issue for clubs boasting Ainalie's talent.

"Last year, we had a massive turnover of players," the Ainslie coach said.

"Country clubs, they have to go and find players to travel to their clubs to make sure they've got enough numbers to play footy, so it's just a part of the footy cycle.

"It doesn't make it easy for city clubs because generally the country clubs have more money to offer than we do, but for us at Ainslie, it's all about creating a great environment that people want to be a part of."

This season Ainslie have brought up to 16 juniors to the first grade squad, highlighting the extraordinary talent coming through the club.

"It's a testament to the club that we develop our juniors," Doering said.

"We've got a nice blend of experience and some really good young talent, which is exciting as well."

Ainslie will need every bit of depth, too, with COVID-19 presenting a constant hurdle for every team in the AFL Canberra comp.

"It's going to take a lot of work, because COVID is still very present," Doering said.

"You can lose players pretty quickly with COVID protocols. Then there's luck you need with injuries as well."

Doering is expecting a fight against Eastlake and predicted Queanbeyan and Belconnen to again be the teams to beat in 2022.

"Tough game as always against Eastlake. They're a strong club, so we expect a really tough contest," he said.

"We need to play four quarters to give ourselves a really good chance to win the game.

"You've just got to play well every time you go out there."

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