The 29-year-old was reunited only two weeks ago with his team, after being separated for close to 18 months with Younger based in Europe and cut off from Australia due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Aussie Sharks boast two four-time Olympians in Rhys Howden and Richie Campbell, triple Olympians Younger, Aidan Roach and Joel Dennerley, dual Olympian George Ford and seven Olympic debutants.  

As the team prepares to take on Montenegro in the opening match of the Tokyo Olympics today, Younger said he has slotted back into the team with ease after such a long time apart.  

“It is a great honour to lead the team at the Olympics, I have played with these guys for many years… we have been the same group for a long time now so it doesn’t change my job too much. Everyone fits in well and the atmosphere is really good so they make my job really easy,” said Younger.  

The last major tournament the Aussie Sharks played was the World Championships in July 2019, which is also when they last met Montenegro.  

“We have played Montenegro many times before over the last cycle, we have always had close games with them… in the World Championships we were able to knock them out in the cross overs.  

“But it’s been almost two years since our last major international competition so I think it will be an interesting match for both teams.  

“I think we have prepared well and used the last two years to our advantage… even though we haven’t been able to compete, we have been able to prepare well together and I think everyone is on the same page and motivated.  

“We were lucky to be able to get to America before coming here to have a few hit outs with them, which was really beneficial for us… I think we were ahead of the level we expected after not playing for that long,” said Younger.  

Australia plays Montenegro Sunday 25 July at 4:30pm AEST with all the action live on 7plus.