Faces in the crowd: Hawks intern coach Angus Bourke

During the Illawarra Hawks' 43-year existence, 221 players have pulled on the club's jersey.

But the number of fans who have supported the foundation club during that period is exponentially more.

As such, the club has decided to profile some of the most prominent and longest-serving HawkHeads with our new 'faces in the crowd' series.

After profiling numerous long-time HawkHeads, including most recently Peter Brettell, we decided to highlight the excellent work of some of the heartbeats behind the scenes of this current Hawks group - such as intern coach Angus Bourke.

The now 24-year-old had always loved hoops but started getting involved in it more during his time at The Scots College in Sydney.

"I really started getting into basketball through school," Bourke said.

"I was lucky enough to have a school with a successful program so the coaching was always really high quality and the other athletes were of an equally high standard.

"It started off as something to do for compulsory sport but I ended up loving it and made an effort to be involved wherever I could whether playing, refereeing, coaching, volunteering - basically whatever kept me around the sport."

Along with Scots, Bourke's basketball knowledge has been heavily influenced by Norths Bears Basketball and The Knox Grammar School.

"Scots and Norths really helped me enjoy the sport for what it was, - the ups and downs, how to approach the game the right way and enjoy it along the ride," he said.

"While Knox really kickstarted me into wanting to coach full-time.

"I was lucky enough to work for Jacob [Jackomas] there, and for the first time, I was able to learn and steal from one of, if not the hardest workers around.

"All three of these places have been very successful while I was there, so I'm very thankful and lucky in that regard."

These experiences have led Bourke to the foundation club - which he's now spent two seasons with.

"I was in and out last year but more casually just coming to watch practice etc, so when the applications came out I couldn't pass up this golden opportunity," he said.

"I wanted to learn and understand how the elite gets it done.

"From the day to day staff, coaches and players it was a place where I thought I could learn and better myself moving forward in the sport."

Along with assistant coach Jackomas, Bourke works alongside fellow intern coaches Decclan McLean and Patrick Williamson, head coach Brian Goorjian and assistant coach Shaun Roger daily.

"The coaching staff at the Hawks are top tier when it comes to technical and tactical aspects of the game but what often goes unseen are the relationships they build with the players and other stakeholders to deliver honest and accurate messages," he said.

"I think a large chunk of basketball coaching is away from the whiteboard and seeing how players responded to the coaching staff you knew they wanted to play and do anything for each other and the club."

Bourke admits all three of the senior coaches have helped get him to where he is today.

"Fun fact, Shaun was one of my first ever basketball coaches and I give him full credit for kickstarting my coaching aspirations and teaching me the importance of leadership and serving others through the sport," he said.

"As I said previously, Jacob gave me a chance to work with him in state teams and at Knox, which pushed me into striving to be a basketball coach at the highest level possible.

"They taught me the importance of the grind and how you get exactly what you put in, in basketball, the weight room and life.

"Brian is someone, who above all, is as authentic as it gets.

"There is never anything too big or too small to discuss with him, he is a weapon in the weight room and cares about every single person that walks through his door.

"All three coaches have been immense mentors over the course of the season and fingers crossed it can stay that way."

Similarily, Bourke's mentor Roger also had high praise for his intern coach.

"For Angus, coming in for his second year there’s an element of familiarity and understanding of how a professional team functions on a day to day level – this familiarity has afforded him with a unique opportunity to enact leadership within the intern coach group," Roger said.

"The opportunity to bring Angus back in for his second year has also allowed us to provide him with avenues to further develop his skillset as it pertains to video analysis (HUDL Sportscode) – his extensive understanding of the software, scripting, and developing reports has helped the coaching staff with practice and game review. 

"Angus’ impact has also been felt throughout the intern coach group as he has been able to act as intermediary of information attained through his new learnings.

"He has been instrumental in assisting both Decclan and Patrick with their current workflows."

As big of an impact as the club's three coaches have made, he admits there's plenty of others in the organisation that have done so.

"Better people make better Hawks," he said.

"Across the organisation, you'll find people who go out of their way to have a conversation, get others coffee, check in on each other and ultimately it does translate to the floor.

"Everyone is able to take feedback and there is an understanding that whatever that feedback is, it's not personal but going to help us succeed.

"Without every part of the organisation working in unison, the results on the floor might not be the same.

"Everyone knows their role and strives to help the team in whatever way possible. 

"You aren't just an intern or a media guy/girl or a player or a coach, you are a Hawk."

A regular day in the life of Bourke will see him assist trainer Phil Driscoll and high performance manager Alex Moore set-up and pack down the practice venue, rebound for players as they arrive/during the session/after training, hold spare balls/sweat towels, film and code practice and run the clock. 

Then on a game day, he rebounds for the players as they come out in their warm-up groups, organise the live capture setup for the game, live code the game, assist the coaching staff with any tasks as they come up, distribute the video files as required to the coaching staff and rebound for players as required. 

On one of those game days at John Cain Arena, Bourke experienced his highlight of the season thus far.

"Our win against the Phoenix in Melbourne was the start of an almost rebirth of the team, as everything really came together," he said.

"We came out of the mud to get it done on the road and put the team on a great stretch to end the regular season."

As the Hawks head into their second straight semi-final series, Bourke explained there was 'no reason why' the current squad couldn't bring a second NBL banner back to the Illawarra.