Young to wear the No.2 for Bulldogs

A SKINNY long-sleeved defender wearing No.2 for the Western Bulldogs. Sound familiar?

Bob Murphy’s jumper number has been handed to his rapidly emerging former teammate Lewis Young.

Young came under notice in Round 17 last season when his 21-disposal, nine-mark game against Adelaide earned rave reviews.

The youngest player in the competition, he went on to play the last seven consecutive games, impressing with his composure, confidence and awareness.

Young yesterday donned the No.2 at the Whitten Oval beside Josh Dunkley, who has inherited Matthew Boyd’s No.5.

“It’s an honour to take over from Bob, who has been such a trademark player for this club for such a long time,” he said.

“‘Bevo’ (coach Luke Beveridge) rang me the day before pre-season started and said: ‘The No.2 is up for grabs and we’d love you to wear it.’ It was terrific to be asked by the coach.

“I’m not sure I was surprised, but I was actually quite proud of myself that I had got to a point where they would offer me that number. I was more humbled.”

Young scraped into last year’s national draft by 11 days, with the Dogs plucking him with pick 49. He does not turn 19 until later this month.

Despite being made to wait for his AFL debut, the next six games came quickly, something he said had given him a lift coming into the pre-season.

“It’s massive. Knowing the coaches had faith to play me in all seven of those games and being able to perform and stand up at that level was a confidence booster,” he said.