The Club appointed former St Kilda AFL player Brett Knowles as coach for two seasons.

The AFL Canberra First Grade competition consisted of 8 Clubs, Ainslie, Belconnen, Eastlake, Queanbeyan, Sydney Swans Reserves, Tuggeranong, Wagga and Weston Creek.

Ainslie Finished in third place after the home and away games with 11 wins and 7 losses.

Ainslie played Queanbeyan in the First Semi-Final but were defeated by 28 points to finish fourth. Ainslie led at half time by 2 goals but a strong third term by Queanbeyan in which they kicked 7 goals to nil sealed the game.

  • Final score: Ainslie 11.12-78 def by Queanbeyan 16.10-106
  • Goal kickers for Ainslie: Singh 4, Langan 2, Paine 2, Kavanagh 1, Knowles 1, Schuck 1
  • Best: R Langan, B Knowles, P McGrath, N Paine, B Singh, J Forsyth

Ainslie players to represent the ACT were James Kavanagh, Lucas Matthews, Peter McGrath, Todd Pulford and Joel White.

Ainslie players selected in the AFL Canberra Team of the Year were Brett Knowles, Lucas Matthews and Peter McGrath.

James Kavanagh was the Club’s leading goal kicker in First Grade with 42 goals.

  • Captain/Coach: Brett Knowles

Second Grade

Ainslie Second Grade finished in fourth position after the home and away games with 6 wins and 9 losses.

Ainslie were defeated in the First Semi-Final by Eastlake to finish fourth.

  • Final score: Ainslie 11.12-78 def by Eastlake 14.12-96
  • Coach: Matt Conway
  • Captain: Tom Munyard

2003-Ainslie Under 18 Team

The Ainslie Under 18s finished in third place after the home and away games with 15 wins and 3 losses

They were relegated to fourth place after losing the First Semi-Final against Belconnen by 4 points.

  • Final score: Ainslie 7.2-44 def by Belconnen 7.6-48
  • Coach: Scott Gibson
  • Captains: Jason Kocmar, Jack Foster
  • Manager: Lyndon Hirst

District Division

Ainslie played in the AFL Canberra District Division 1 competition. After the Home and Away games Ainslie missed the finals finishing in sixth position with 3 wins and 13 losses.

  • Captain/Coach: Gavin Pound

Women

With the Ainslie Women’s team having a high turnover of players and loss of experience the team did not win a game and finished at the bottom of the table.

  • Coach: Shane Gnaden
  • Managers: Daphne Hamilton, Lyn Randall

Club Awards

First Grade

  • Best & Fairest: Peter McGrath
  • Runner Up B&F: Joel Forsyth
  • Clubman Award: Reece Langan
  • Coach’s Award: Daine Harrison
  • Rising Star: David Jackson
  • Past Player’s Award: Peter McGrath

Second Grade

  • Best & Fairest: Wade Carruthers
  • Runner Up B&F: Andrew Wainwright
  • Best Club Person: David Jackson
  • Player’s Player: Cassidy Fitzclarence

Under 18

  • Best & Fairest: Jason Kocmar
  • Runner Up B&F: Shaune Austin
  • Best Club Person: Matthew Barber
  • Most Promising Player: Brad Richards

District Division

  • Best & Fairest: Phil Henderson
  • Runner Up B&F: Justin Fromm, Mark Jillard
  • Most Consistent: Bill Kay
  • Coach’s Award: Rod Foran

Women

  • Best & Fairest: Andrea Schmuck
  • Runner Up B&F: Dani Curcio
  • Most Improved: Bryony Webster
  • Coach’s Award: Natalie Randall
  • Encouragement Award: Nicole Sherman

Other Awards

  • Bev Trebilcock Award: Glenn Smith
  • Richard Fleming Memorial Award: Brent Rebecca
  • Most Prominent Clubman: Gavin Pound
  • Jaws Award: John Smith