On Saturday he was at Gipps Street helping run the Northern Inland Academy of Sport touch squad.

Jeff Aldridge is the head coach and Young is his assistant.

“I was in the very first NIAS squad when Jeff started it,”  Young said.

“He’s away on a job at the moment.”

Which left Young to run a drills session concentrating on passing followed by another session on scooping the ball from the ground.

“It’s their first session,” Young said.

“The first couple were rained out.

“A lot of this is basic stuff –  you’ve got to be able to pass both right and left.

“There’s no real set positions so you can be playing anywhere.”

He said the grounding he received in that very first squad from Aldridge had served him well.

He moved to Sydney and Melbourne and has represented Victoria.

“We won the senior mixed nationals in 2011.

“I didn’t play last year but they made the final.”

He’s now returned to Tamworth to run the family business (Cellarbrations).

“When I got back I spoke to Jeff about coaching in general.

“He said ‘have I got a job for you’.

“I’m also now the president of Tamworth Touch Association.”

He also plays locally as well as in Quirindi and hopes to help the young players in the NIAS Touch squad improve and enhance their skills.

“They’re going to Sydney in February and play club teams down there,” he said.

NIAS SERVICES TOUCH SQUAD

Madeline Buhagiar (Gunnedah), Madison Cook (Glen Innes), Jed Englert (Duri), Bronte Harris, Claudia Schneider-Lemmon, OliviaTarlinton, Harrison Taylor, Zach Taylor, Georgia White (Tamworth), Brooke Kingdom (Armidale), Fraser Ticehurst, Sam Wesley, Hugh Wesley (Coolah).