Playing against your former side is difficult in any scenario. Old friends and mentors become foes, and they know your game inside and out.

In just his 11^th game of AFL football Lachie Young became acquainted with this experience, as he took on his former teammates at the Western Bulldogs.

North suffered a heavy defeat that day, and Young admits he struggled to find his feet in the difficult clash. He was ultimately omitted.

But his chance to atone came quicker than expected against Adelaide a week later.

“I took it in my stride and prepared like it was going to be a normal game … it almost lifted a bit of stress, you could play the whole game or you could play not much and it turned out I came on ten minutes in,” Young told North Media.

“I just stripped my game back to really simple things … at the start of the game it’s just a moment, kill a contest, lay a tackle, just something to get myself into the game and then everything else just stems from there.

“I didn’t have my greatest affair against my old mob … against the Bulldogs I played the game 3000 times over in my head before I went out there … I suppose it was a bit of an eye opener.

“We needed to change a few things in my game, [but] the good thing about it was they were really simple things. It’s not like I had to change the world to play better footy.”

Coming to North with a reputation as a capable and athletic defender, Young has shifted up the ground in recent weeks, playing in a defensive wing role to help supplement the back six.

He says he believes his natural athleticism, coupled with his defensive nous, makes him the perfect candidate for the role.

“I can still use my attributes as a defender when I’m on the wing, but I can also use my running ability,” Young added.

“I’ve played it previously before but I probably haven’t trained it as much as I would have liked. Now getting some really clear training behind [me], I think it’s really been helping me on game day.

“It’s been really smooth to switch up onto the wing … I’ve really been enjoying that, being that defensive wingman and getting back to help the defence.”