James Woolford will step up to the role currently held by Englishman Neil Thorman after signing a two-year contract on Monday.

Club president Robert Bush said the decision has put Young on the front foot ahead of next season.

“I think James is one of the most underrated players in the group at the moment,” Bush said.

“He has a lot to offer because of the levels of football that he’s played – his record is unbelievable and I just think that James will bring a lot of the locals back to the club who’ve wandered away from football or have gone to other clubs.”

Bush said while the club is extremely happy with Thorman’s efforts this season, the committee are “looking to the future” in employing a former junior Cherrypicker as coach.

“I can’t give Neil enough wraps with what he’s achieved – despite the loss of Tui Samoa, Matt Wakefield and Luke Branighan we’re in a stronger position than we were last year,” he said.

“Neil's attitude and his professionalism in the coaching job has been well rewarded with the team’s position on the Group Nine table.”

While negotiations are ongoing in re-signing Thorman as a First Grade player, Bush said Woolford is excited at the prospect of coaching the team – an opportunity he was denied in the 2016 season.

“He was disappointed last year that he missed out, but he’s already trying to get calendars, draws and trying to get things organised,” Bush said.

“We’re all a bit keen when we first start, but he’s very keen to get things rolling for next year starting on player recruitment, and trying to retain as many as possible of this year’s squad.

“This is a positive to be this organised - to have this settled and to have Kyle Richens and a few other prominent players also re-signed at this moment everything’s looking very positive.” 

The announcement comes off the back of another fine win by the Cherrypickers who defeated the Wagga Kangaroos 44-6 on Saturday.

Thorman praised his team who performed well in trying conditions at Alfred Oval.

“We knew it was going to be wet and muddy, so we knew we’d have to complete and stick to our structure and make sure we finish those opportunities when they come out wide, and we did do that,” he said.

Young welcomed the return of Aaron Slater, and special mention went to Blake Hewitt, Jake Walker and Jack Bush who had standout games.

“I thought Blake had a good game, and Jack had a lot of good touches,” Thorman said.

“Jack’s second try was great, he showed a little pace down the touch line, fended their winger and finished in the corner.”

Wagga could only respond with one try in first half to take Young’s statistics to two tries against them in their last four games.

Thorman will return to the field this week after serving four weeks of suspension.

Tries to Jack Bush (2), Blake Hewitt (2), Boyd Strickland, Jesse Corcoran and James Woolford.

In other results the Reserve Grade Cherrypickers took an 8-6 win, League Tag a 26-4 win, the Under 18s an 18-10 win and the Under 16s a 30-6 loss.