Tom Young to join the Magpies
AFL young gun Tom Young has commenced one of the biggest pre-seasons of his life following Collingwood’s announcement they will draft the 18-year-old in November’s NAB AFL Draft.
It is a fitting achievement for the talented footballer from Bowral having impressed this year while playing for Collingwood’s affiliate side in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The NSW Scholarship graduate commenced day one of pre-season training last Monday (October 25) and will be looking to emulate the achievements of the Pies’ youngsters who held the premiership aloft this season.
Collingwood’s premiership side contained seven players with less than 50 AFL games experience under their belts – including rookie Jarryd Blair.
It will be the likes of Ben Reid, Steele Sidebottom, Tyson Goldsack among others as players who Young will look to for advice as well as their new coach-in-waiting Nathan Buckley.
“There’s a lot of good players at the club but if you work hard enough you should be able to crack the team,” Young said.
“I actually lived with him [Jarryd Blair] a bit last year and you could just see how hard he worked in the pre-season and he got rewarded for it.
“Bucks [Nathan Buckley] is training us in the pre-season at the moment and you can already tell he’s going to be a really good coach.
“His advice to me is just to keep working hard and surround yourself with good people at the club and you should be right.”
Young, who played for Wollondilly as a junior before moving to Campbelltown Football Club and Sydney University is now one of eleven NSW/ACT born players to be picked up by an AFL club this year.
The 188-centremetre prospect was introduced to the game by his father as a five-year-old and quickly worked his way up through the AFL (NSW/ACT) Talented Player Program.
In 2008, Collingwood signed Young on a two-year NSW Scholarship deal and the following year he moved to Melbourne to pursue to his dream of playing in the AFL. This season, the developing young gun played in all 20 VFL matches averaging 19 disposals and four marks a game off the half-back.
“I would love to debut next year – I’ve just got to work hard,” he said.
“We’ve started pre-season so we’re three weeks up on the senior team as they’re starting in two weeks time.
“So I’ve just got to work hard in the pre-season and look to get a NAB Cup game and then go from there.”
With another full pre-season under his belt it may only be a matter of time until Young cements his place in the team, and with it, a chance of tasting premiership success with Australia’s biggest sporting club.
Young will officially become a Magpie on November 18 through the 2010 NAB AFL Draft being held on the Gold Coast.
