Before Young came to St Kilda, he played 76 WANFL games with Subiaco as well as representing Western Australia (where his family relocated from Melbourne when he was one year old)[1] at interstate football; his performance at the 1972 Perth Carnival had earned him an All-Australian selection. He debuted for St Kilda in 1973 and played his first couple of seasons as a half forward flanker. In 1975, he played at full-forward and topped the club's goalkicking every season before leaving after the 1978 season. His best tally was 70 goals in 1978, a year in which he managed a bag of 10 against Fitzroy in their Round 12 encounter.