The bright signs continued once the 197cm defender inherited Bob Murphy's No.2 guernsey at the end of his first year, but the VFL beckoned in Young's third season as competition for spots increased.

"Going back to the VFL at times was a good thing, but at times it was a little bit tough," Young told AFL.com.au.

The mindset for the 21-year-old was not to knock down the door every week, but to hold his form and wait for his chance.

The opportunity finally came in round 22 when ruckman Tim English fell ill; 20 weeks after Young was first omitted.

"Just trying to keep myself relevant in the selection frame throughout the year was really important," Young said.

"I got a bit lucky with Tim (English) being sick in a way, it was lucky for me because I got a spot."

Young proved his worth and held on to his spot in the backline for the final three weeks of the Bulldogs 2019 season, but another challenge came his way in 2020.

With the recruitment of Josh Bruce and solid returns from Aaron Naughton and Josh Schache in 2019, it may have raised a few eyebrows to see Young swung forward at the start of the season.

"I spent a lot of time this pre-season even as a backman, but it's with Bevo's (Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge) philosophy of playing in dual positions and having everyone on the field being able to switch around," Young said.

Despite playing as a forward in junior football, the move hasn't been seamless for Young.

The swingman is a student of the game and has spent plenty of time soaking up as much knowledge as he can from forwards coach Ash Hansen.

"I'm trying to be more creative and have a bit more craft in my forward game," Young said.

The transition between positions has required Young to play with "natural instinct".

"Trying to keep the game simple and not trying to do much with or without the ball is really, especially as a key forward if you try and think too much you can get in your own head and play yourself out of the game," Young said.

He's also shaking old habits and making a conscious effort to keep his eyes on the football at all times.

"Playing as a defender you spend half your time looking at your opponent and half the time at the ball," Young said.

"Moving from that mindset is important to me."

Positioning has also been a major growth area that Young has put time into.  

"I'm trying to stay in line with the ball and not drifting into positions where I'm not relevant to where the ball is going to be," Young said.

"Just trying to stay in the line of the goals so I can use my strengths which is to run and jump at the ball and bring the ball to ground or clunk a couple of marks."

That special awareness is crucial when he's playing alongside Naughton and Bruce – two players he's still building a rapport with.

"We're trying to get that chemistry for when one of us is going for the ball, one of us needs to pull out and go back towards the goals."

"That chemistry is something that grows with time, but we're trying to rush ourselves to have that chemistry more through training and through just hanging out and doing edits, but that stuff comes with time."

The disruption to the season might have put a dent in the connection building period for the Bulldogs, but this forward trio has the athleticism, strength and smarts to really do damage in the finals if everything clicks.