Players will be required to step up in the absence of Thorman who begins his four-match suspension this week after being found guilty of a Round 10 incident.

But Young aren’t the only team to be affected by suspensions, with two Brothers players slapped with a two-game suspension as a result of a Round 10 brawl. 

”It’s definitely something we’ll take advantage of,” Thorman said.

The ‘Pickers will field a forward-based team this week with the inclusion of Warren Aiken at five-eighth and Blake Hewitt to second row.

Thorman said while he’s confident Aiken and Hewitt will meet expectations, it will take a whole team effort to overcome the Brothers to which Young merely edged out in a three-point win in Round 7.

“To be honest, with there being quite an easy transition of Warran and Blake I’ve not got any worries about those boys doing the job,” he said.

“I’m hoping a couple more players will take a bit more ownership and lead players around the park a little more now that I’m not there, but the boys that are there are more than capable and I’m sure they’ll step up.”

While frustrated at the thought of watching from the sideline, Thorman said he’ll use the opportunity to see his team play from a different perspective. 

“The one thing I am looking forward to is seeing us on the field – I’ll be able to coach us off the field and be able to see everything and not just a perspective as a player on the field," he said.

But he hasn’t lost sight of the importance of the next four rounds.

“We play four teams that’re below us and these are the type of games I've been saying we need to win to stay where we are,” Thorman said.

“We have moved up to fifth, but there’s still teams pushing around us, nobody’s safe in the top six.

“But in saying that, if we win the next four there’s a good chance we can move to third.”

Reflecting on the season Thorman says he’s happy with how his team is placed.

“Some say that we’ve overachieved in terms of the run we had when we were trying to recruit players,” he said. 

“A lot of them fell through - we spoke with Americans, Englishmen, Kiwis, Papua New Guineas, Frenchman; there were a lot of players that signed on the dotted line and ended up pulling out.

“We wanted to strengthen our team a bit more which wasn’t the case, so we had to ask a lot more of the local-based players who have stepped up and have all been doing their job.”