The Cherrypickers were beaten in the grand final by Bathurst Panthers on Saturday, the Group 10 club piling on 22-unanswered points.

Despite that result, Bush was hugely impressed with Young's showing in the opening games and is keen to begin the regular  season in two weeks time.

He labelled gutsy defence as the key to side's success. 

He also identified Jason Brown, Gus Smith, Casey Wall, Justin Kelly, Will Manwaring and Will Dunn as some of the best players on the day.

"We're really looking forward to playing Kangaroos at Wagga in the opener and getting pay back for them knocking us out last year," Bush said referring to his side's preliminary final exit in 2018.

"We came up against a well structured Bathurst Panthers in the final on Saturday, it was a bit of a shock for us and they were too good. 

"I really want to thank all the under 19s players who played up in reserves it was really good to see."

The Pickers were trailing 4-0 at the break in the decider before Panthers ran away to a 22-0 win. The Cherryettes were also in action on Saturday to cap off a busy pre-season for the league-tag side.

The Cherryettes scored one pool victory however suffered a loss in the semi-final to a strong Harden side.

The season begins on April 6.