Bourke, 19, will start pre-season with the club’s second-tier side on November 17 in a bid to earn a spot on its list.

The Kolora-Noorat export still harbours ambitions of reigniting his AFL career via the drafts after Geelong delisted him in September following a season as a rookie.

But he is realistic about his chances of being picked via the national and rookie drafts and has back-up options in place.

He’s nominated Geelong league-based Leopold as his local club as well as committing to VFL training.

“I will do a pre-season with Geelong in the VFL and see how I go and have signed Leopold as my local club if worst comes to worst and nothing happens in the draft,” he said.

Bourke said the meeting he had with Geelong’s hierarchy — Neil Balme, Stephen Wells and coach Chris Scott — when he was delisted encouraged him to test his luck and try out for the Cats’ VFL squad.

The former Geelong Falcon  played 15 VFL games this year.

“They swayed me to Geelong,” he said.

“I know a lot of the players and know how it works so it makes it easier.

“It was the right option for me to stick with Geelong.

“It was an easy decision in the end.”

Bourke, a former AFL-AIS Academy player, said his preparation for next season had already started.

“I enjoyed a break for a bit and had a trip to Bali and since I’ve been back I’ve done a fair bit of running and been in the gym,” he said.

“It’s starting to ramp up a bit now.”