Matthew Young (born 17 September 1972) is a former

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

footballer who played with

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

and St Kilda. After a long stint in the Hawthorn reserves, and limited opportunity in the senior side for his first two seasons, he was selected by St Kilda in the 1996 March draft. Given this new opportunity, Young had a successful 1996 season, ranking high in St Kilda's best and fairest award. He was plagued by a number of injuries during his career, including chronic back problems and a shoulder injury during the 1997 season. Young played in 17 of 22 matches in the 1997 home and away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the 1997 AFL Finals Series, winning the club's 2nd Minor Premiership and 1st McClelland Trophy. This, and the doubts of St Kilda leadership about his ability to play a whole game meant he was dropped from the side for the 1997 Grand Final. 1999 was another successful season, and he was runner up in the best and fairest, however he struggled during

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and was cut from the list at the end of the year. Often considered a strong running defender, many disposal errors marred his career.

References

Sources

* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed''. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Matthew 1972 births Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Hawthorn Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players Living people Allies State of Origin players