Career: 2007
Debut: Round 6, 2007 vs. St Kilda, aged 23 years, 237 days
1102nd Carlton Player
Games: 6
Goals: 3
Last game: Round 15, 2007 vs. Sydney, aged 23 years, 309 days
Guernsey No. 41 (2007).
Height: 180cm
Weight: 82kg
DOB: 9 September, 1983
Ross Young was the first player chosen under the new mature-age rookie rule that allowed each club to pick one untried prospect aged 23 or more and Carlton was one of only two teams to take up the offer. (Adelaide was the other club). He was Carlton's third round rookie pick (#32 overall) and their 2nd player recruited from the VFL (with North Ballarat's Michael Jamison).
Carlton's affiliate team the Northern Bullants, selected Young as a rookie with its third-round selection (the 35th pick overall) in the 2007 Rookie Draft, held before the beginning of the 2007 regular season. Young, at 23 years old, was the first player to be selected under new rules where older players could be rookie-listed if they had never been through an AFL club system. Being selected by Carlton was a dream come true for Young, as he had always been an unabashed fan of former Carlton great Peter "Percy" Jones.
Ross Young was originally from Donald and had played with the Bendigo Pioneers U18s side in the TAC Cup in 2001 (when he was listed as 178cm (5'9½") and 65kg (10.3)), he then went and played with the University Blues Football Club and had played the last two seasons at the Northern Blues, (coached by Barry Mitchell, Carlton's aligned club). Ross played in 20 games for the Bullants in 2005 and scored 17 goals and during the 2006 season played 14 games and scored 12 goals. He was injured early in the first final of 2006 against Williamstown and the 'ants missed his drive in the remainder of that game and the rest of their finals games. He was also injured in the night game at Bendigo in the 'Ants third game of the 2006 season and missed more games.
In Round 6, after several solid games at the Northern Blues, Young was not only promoted to the senior list to replace the injured Nick Stevens but was selected to debut against St Kilda. He ended up playing in a side that lost by 43 points but his performance was impressive as he racked up 13 disposals.
A week later, Young kicked his first goal at AFL level. After 3 games in the seniors, Young lost his place for the Round 9 fixture v. Adelaide as the Blues went tall to try and beat the Crows, but would return for the Round 13 away clash against the Dockers, kicking 2 goals in our only real surge in a disappointing day. He played the next 2 games but the Round 15 fixture vs. the Swans would turn out to be his sixth and final game and he failed to earn selection again. He was not retained by the club beyond 2007.
Young then moved to Western Australia to play with Perth in the WAFL in 2008 alongside his younger brother Seamus, where he had a distinguished WAFL career. He won the 2009 Sandover Medal with 45 votes after finishing third in 2008. He won the Butcher Medal as the club's best and fairest player in 2009 and 2011 and represented Western Australia in three interstate matches between 2008 and 2010. In February 2012, Young was named the captain of the Perth Football Club for the 2012 season, taking over from Steven Armstrong, who had retired.
Young left Perth at the end of 2012 to return to Melbourne. He returned to the University Blues for the 2013 season and was captain of the VAFA representative team which underwent an International rules football series in Ireland in October 2013. In 2014, Young signed with the Richmond Football Club and served as the captain of its reserves team during its inaugural season in the Victorian Football League. He returned to University Blues in 2015, and was joint-winner of the 2015 Woodrow Medal as VAFA Premier Division best and fairest. He remained with the Blues until the end of the 2019 season and retired before the resumption of amateur football in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Young is the cousin of former Hawthorn and Collingwood's Clinton Young.
Links
Articles: 10 minutes with Ross Young | Young Promoted to Senior ListBlueseum: A statistical summary of Ross Young's career | Career Breakdown | Young's Blueseum Image Gallery