There's a good reason the former Hawthorn and Collingwood dasher was moved by the sight of Prince of Penzance's strapper Steven Payne beaming into television screens across Australia.

Steven, like Young's brother Lachie, has Down Syndrome. Throughout Clinton's 11-season AFL career, Lachie was rarely far away, occasionally spotted in the huddle post-game signing the club song. It hasn't always been easy, and things occasionally took a nasty turn, like in 2013 when a Twitter user made derogatory comments in response to a Tweet from Clinton about how much his brother had enjoyed a win over Carlton.

But to watch the Payne's triumph together was special for Young. "It really makes you appreciate life more," Young told Pssst.

"Just seeing how much they enjoy that experience, and having that attention on them, it really makes you appreciate what's important in life. For someone like myself, playing footy every weekend and catching up with Lachie afterwards, [those are] some of my great memories in footy.

"And I'm sure for Michelle, to win the Melbourne Cup and have her brother as part of it and to see how much he enjoyed it, and the attention on him, I'm sure for her it would have been unbelievable."

Young said he had been caught up in the emotion of the moment. "To see him involved like he was, getting interviewed post-race, I was almost crying back at home."

Michelle Payne celebrates her winning ride with brother and strapper Steven. Photo: Getty Images

Young hung up the boots at the end of the season after an injury-cruelled stint at Collingwood after joining the Magpies following the 2012 campaign. Yet despite being restricted to just 21 games during his three seasons at the club, the Holden Centre wasn't all bad for Young.

"If I had have fast-forwarded and seen what the three years would have looked like, I would have been disappointed. But I guess for me it was a great learning curve. I'd obviously been at Hawthorn for eight seasons, experienced success, but moving to the Pies, experiencing a different club and culture, meeting with people, although things didn't work out on-field, I learnt a lot."

It was also during his time at the Pies that Young met his now-fiancee, Bec, who used to work at Collingwood.

Young has recently got on board as the Victorian skills coach at the new Simon Black Academy, which launches this week.

The academy aims to improve the football skills of young adults while allowing them to gain industry recognised training in business and fitness. Young says he had contemplated a future in coaching during his playing career. "In stages yes. Obviously over an 11-year career there's moments where you really love footy, and then there's a lot of hard times when injuries hit."

He added that he is looking forward to the experience. "Once I heard about the academy and what it does, it was too good an offer and opportunity to refuse. For me it's about mentoring them and trying to improve their skills and improve their football."

Port support

There was a touching gesture late in the week when  Port Melbourne announced they had retired the No.19 jumper for season 2016. The decision was made by the club's board - following discussions with players and coaching staff - as a mark of respect to the jumper's previous holder Sam O'Sullivan who is battling the rare Necrotising Myositis infection. The club issued a statement, acknowledging that they would stand by their man. "Sam continues to defy medical experts by his rate of recovery and despite reservations about the prospect of never playing football again, having seen how far 'SOS' has already come, it would take a brave person to put anything beyond him," the statement read. "As a club, we hope that this gesture plays a small role in displaying our solidarity and support for 'SOS' as he continues his recovery."

Sweet tweet

While the new-look AFL draft was criticised in some quarters for its sluggish pace, certain elements on the night were winners. One person who emerged well was Greater Western Sydney opposition analyst Adrian Caruso. Caruso, who had previously worked at Fox Footy, the Western Bulldogs and Champion Data, live-tweeted the event from the Adelaide Convention Centre, where he was sitting on the Giants' table. Caruso took his 700-odd followers exceptionally close to the action, tweeting pictures of the computer screen as GWS were asked to make their next selections

Sons of the South

It was back to the future for the Foschinis this week. Former Melbourne Victory defender Matthew Foschini signed with Victorian Premier League club South Melbourne. It means he will again play home games at the Lakeside Stadium, the site of the old Lake Oval, where his dad, former Swans and St Kilda VFL player Silvio Foschini played in the early 1980s.

Fields' dream

Big-kicking former Carlton rookie Tom Fields hasn't given up on his American Football dream despite agreeing to play next year in the SANFL. Fields, who played twice at AFL level for the Blues this year before being delisted, is heading back to South Australia to play for South Adelaide. However, the 192cm defender is still eyeing a possible career as a punter. Fields made headlines mid-season after sending a kick-in more than half the length of the Whitten Oval during a VFL game for the Northern Blues.

Gayle trail

Melbourne Renegades recruit Chris Gayle won't be following the lead set last year by Melbourne Stars drawcard Kevin Pietersen. While Pietersen warmed up for last year's Big Bash League with a hit for Monash Tigers in Victorian Premier Cricket, Gayle's Twenty20 commitments in Bangladesh preclude him from doing likewise. Melbourne's two sides face off in a warm-up match at Geelong's Simonds Stadium on December 11.

THE WATCHMAN 

Two minutes to midnight... for the AFL draft as a spectator sport. Call the kids' names and let's all get on with life.

LOCAL HERO 

The world of drag racing is a small one, but local heroes abound, including Epping's own Jess Turner, who next weekend takes her team from the Group Three Modified events to Group Two Competition in Mildura. Turner has been making rapid progress in the sport and will partner Geddes Racing to run an engine combination supplied by Rob Martin, a long-time supporter of the Geddes' outift. "We are pretty excited to be given this opportunity ... Running Competition is something both my parents raced for many years and were pretty successful so I'm pretty excited to give it a shot," Turner said. Qualifying at Mildura's Sunset Strip begins at 5.30pm on Friday.

NUMBERS UP 

$1.8 billion is this size of the NRL's five-year broadcast deal from 2018.

4 horses that have died or been euthanased after injuries sustained during or after the past three Melbourne Cups.

70 wins from an 82-game NBA season. LeBron James has revealed that is one of his remaining career goals.

Got a tip? Contact Daniel Cherny. Twitter: @danielcherny.