In a new feature on collingwoodfc.com.au, supporters will recap a player's weekly schedule in 'A week in the life'.

This week we hear about what Tom Young has been doing in the days following Collingwood's win over Sydney in round 20.

Sunday - VFL: Collingwood defeated by Sandringham at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.
I got up and tried to rustle up some food for breakfast. My little sister, Gabby, had a nice wrap made for me. She’s 18-years-old and moved down from NSW to live with me this year, and she’s working at a law firm. I had plenty of water to keep my fluids up and drove out to Sandringham. I went out by myself in the car because I like to be alone before a game. Unfortunately we lost, and I got touched up, but I’ll be ready to go again for next week. The whole team went to the beach for recovery. It was freezing, big time. That’s what we do every time we play in the VFL down at Sandy, though, to help with our recovery. When I got home my sister cooked dinner for me and we just chilled out and watched a movie called How to Train Your Dragon. It was alright, but it was just on TV. I didn’t go out of my way to watch it. The Closing Ceremony at the Olympic games did nothing for me, but I loved watching the Olympics. My favourites were the cycling, the volleyball and the rowing which I love watching. The equestrian no good, though. I wasn’t able to go to the Sydney Olympics in 2000 because we lived hour and a half south of Sydney, so we didn’t go.

Monday
We had our reviews first thing in the morning, and mine was with Dale Tapping (Midfield Development Coach). It can be hard doing a review only 12 hours after playing a match, but it is what it is, and they looked after the VFL boys because we had played the day before. Everyone did their recovery, with things like ice baths and walking laps in the pool which is good for the legs because it gets the blood going. When I got home, I kicked back and relaxed. I don’t do much at home; I just try and keep it quiet. I did a bit of my school work, which I’m doing via correspondence because I came down to Melbourne to play for Collingwood when I was 17. I’m studying PE at the moment, and will go to university next year doing a business or commerce course. Moving down so young was alright, the club looked after me well. I was living with Joshy Thomas and Roundsy in a house in Williamstown. They were very good to me. My family was also really good. My grandparents are coming down on Thursday for a week and I’ll spend some time with them. For dinner we had chicken wraps. I actually do most of the cooking at home, and Gabby does the cleaning, so we share the domestic duties. Then it was just an early night because I was still pretty tired from Sunday’s game. A little bit sleep deprived!

Tuesday
We did some more recovery stuff and chilled out before having a feed with Joshy Thomas and Cribbo. We went around Chapel Street and had a coffee and did a bit of shopping. We all hang out around there all together with Joshy, Cribbo, Tom Bell from Carlton, Keeffey and Ben Sinclair. I hang around with the boys, just to unwind and just get away from footy. I took my sister to her basketball game that night. She plays every Tuesday and it’s good to get out of the house. It’s the same sort of thing where it’s just good to get away from footy when you can. She’s played a lot of basketball and plays as a guard in her team. We went home and watched Geordie Shore. It’s not my favourite show but it just gets addictive. You watch the first one and then get sucked in. I read a book for a bit, Elephant Song, by Wilbur Smith. I love books and love reading about Africa. My grandpa got me onto it and ever since then I’ve been reading about it.

Wednesday
It was our main training session for the week, so the whole team came in early to get started. I always warm up with Benny Sinclair. Myself, Sincs and Josh Thomas are all very close, because all got drafted together and so we’ve always hung around together, and I lived with Josh for a couple of years. I’m also close with Tommy Hunter, and had a chat with him just the other day because he’s doing recruiting work with us now. I also keep in touch with Jack Perham, who was on our rookie list last year, through Fas. I hang out with Fas a fair bit, actually. I was around at his house last Tuesday to watch a movie in the arvo. I also do a bit of boxing with Fas on Wednesdays for speed and to harden him up a bit. It’s been really good by Mick Dugina (Strength and Conditioning Coach) who really looks after us. After that, I just went home and went out to dinner at Arcadia with all the boys for a steak night. Roundsy organised it. It was him, Keefey, Josh, Cribbo, Fas, Browny and me. Of the senior players, I get on well with Heath Shaw. He always looks after me goes through stuff with me after each game.

Thursday?
Thursday was our day off, so I had a hit of golf at the driving range to clear my head and spend some time by myself. My grandparents got me into the golf. They raised me with my mum and moved in when I was five, living up in Bowral in NSW. I’m really close with them, and we’re a very tight knit family. I have an older sister, too, called Alex. She’s studying at Sydney University and lives in Newcastle. She’s actually moving to Central Australia because her boyfriend is in the Air Force. I slept in and came into club do some recovery and afterwards I went out and had lunch with the boys. Joshy’s house is a bit like a halfway house, in that everyone’s usually there playing FIFA on the Play Station. Roundsy and Cribbo are very good at it so I always watch them. I’m shocking - terrible at Play Station but I’m all class on the Nintendo64 with Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Zelda and Golden Eye. Yoshi was always my character on those games. I watched a movie with Fas, we just like anything that’s going, really. I also like watching Operation Repo on 7mate. It’s hilarious. To finish the day I read a bit more of my book and went to sleep.

Friday
Today was our last training session for the week and it’s usually the most enjoyable. It’s just a matter of flicking the ball around to get a bit of touch going into the game. I got up early to have breakfast and train. The same group went and had lunch at Kush on Chapel Street where I usually get pasta and split half a focaccia with Fasolo. From now on, it’s a matter of resting up and hydrating. I might cook up pesto pasta or spaghetti bolognaise to get a good meal in. It’s a key, more so mentally, than anything to know you’ve ticked all the boxes going into the game. I’ve got water in my hand all day so keep hydrating, but if you have too much it can flush the minerals out which makes you more susceptible to cramping so it’s important to have them in your body.

On game day, I usually like to get up and have a walk, sit out on the dock and grab a newspaper from 7-Eleven and relax for half an hour. Then I go back home, make some eggs on toast with the music channel on in the background get set for the game.