HAWTHORN’S Clinton Young grew up in a house of boys. Six to be exact. According to him, growing up with five brothers has its advantages. The 22-year-old, who comes third in the Young clan pecking order, always had playing partners, be it for footy or cricket.

“There was always plenty of sport being played in the back garden,” he says.

“Every day when school would finish, my brothers would go for a kick during winter and then in summer we’d play cricket. Instead of having to annoy friends to go have a kick, I had that at home whenever I felt like it.”

But there are disadvantages to being raised in such a testosterone fuelled environment like, for example, a lack of opportunity to learn how to deal with the fairer sex. Young, though, has  a close friend he can consult on such issues.

Club skipper Sam Mitchell grew up in a house of girls and is much better versed on the opposite sex. Young admits that their contrasting upbringings makes him a bit "laddish" and Mitchell more of a “ladies’ man”.

“He has plenty of advice to give me on that,” Young laughs.

In fact, the midfielder is constantly surrounded by Hawks’ influences. He moved in with teammate Grant Birchall over the Christmas break and while things are working out well on the domestic front, he admits that the pair’s different dietary requirements is causing Birchall some problems.

“Our eating habits are quite different. I’m trying to eat more while he’s trying to eat less. So when he sees me eating a lot, he’s finding it hard to stop eating as well. I get a bigger portion but they end up pretty similar in the end because he enjoys his food,” he laughs.

One thing that the pair do agree on is TV viewing. Both are big fans of various footy programs and are always watching when teammate Shane Crawford makes an appearance on ‘The Footy Show’.

“It’s enjoyable to watch Shane on there. He's a bit of a larrikin and he plays it up on the show. It’s weird watching him and then seeing him at training the next morning though.”

While the various footy broadcasts provide light entertainment, the boys are now faced with a barrage of hype regarding their side. The Hawks, undefeated after five rounds, are being touted as the main challenger to Geelong. In fact the clubs' round 17 clash has already been earmarked by footy analysts as the match of the year.

“When all of the media is pumping you up it’s hard to ignore it but you’ve got to stay level-headed and concentrate on what you’re doing", says Young.

"That’s just people’s opinion but we haven’t played them yet. It’s obviously a long season. We’ve got a lot of other teams to play before we play them. Hopefully we keep to the same form and … are the team that can challenge them.”