Lachlan Gale follows Giles to sign with Young

After coming on as the new Cherrypickers captain-coach last week, Tom Giles was quick to lure Lachlan Gale to the club.

The pair went to high school together, both earned Australian Schoolboys selected together, before coming through the junior ranks with South Sydney.

A shoulder injury prevented Gale from playing last year, however Giles believes he can add some more impact to Young's forward pack.

"He'll really complete the forward pack with me, Walks (Jake Walker) and hopefully we can get Aaron Slater to play as well," Giles said.

"Us four as a middle rotation is something to look forward to."

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Giles and Walker, who has already re-signed, are a big part of the formidable Cherrypickers forward pack.

However Giles is looking for some more impact off the bench.

He's confident his schoolmate can do just that.

"He's a little bit smaller but he's thick enough and if all goes to plan he will do a job off the bench for us," he said.

"It will be me and Walks up front and he will take the minutes off Walks when he needs a breather and we will see who else we can get in there."

Gale has spent the last five seasons around the Rabbitohs NSW Cup side.

However he's only played 13 games at that level with a season lost to COVID before his shoulder concerns.

Giles believes he'll add plenty to Young's defence.

"I know Walks can hit but Choc (Gale) can actually whack in defence," he said.

"If he stays healthy, which he should do, his defence will be up there as probably the best in the comp.

"We're looking to bring that extra defence, which we really didn't have towards the back end of this year.

"That should help us as he'll provide that energy in defence and take a bit of the workload off some of our other middles."

While Giles is set to move to Young later this year to take over the coaching role, Gale will be one of the travellers.

However Giles is looking to keep those unable to train with the club twice a week during the season to a minimum.

"He'll travel down on Fridays, come to the captain's run on Friday nights and play on the weekend," he said.

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