Western Bulldogs Development Manager Rohan Smith will take the coaching reins this weekend when the Club travels to Sydney for the inaugural AFLX tournament, along with development coaches Jamie Maddocks and Jordan Russell.

Smith, who played 300-games for the Bulldogs over a 16-year career and has fulfilled a variety of coaching roles at the Club since 2012, said he’s excited to have the opportunity to coach his own team.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to coach my own team for the first time, definitely.” he told westernbulldogs.com.au on Wednesday.

“When we came back from Christmas holidays Bev (coach Luke Beveridge) asked me if I wanted to do it, and I jumped at it. “ Smith said.

Speaking on the AFLX concept, Smith said he expects fans will embrace the tournament, but there’s also great scope for players to further develop their offensive and defensive games, particularly the ability to quickly switch between sets, and apply them to the season proper.

“It’s fast paced, high scoring, we’ll see a lot of long goals and some great offensive play, but we’ve got to make sure we play the game properly, the way we want to play AFL footy, both offensively and defensively and I think AFLX lends itself to that.   

“It’s good learning for everyone, basically.”

The Bulldogs will announce their squad at 4pm today on westernbulldogs.com.au.