Dean Young (rugby league)

Dean Young (born 28 October 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach of the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Dean Young
Personal information
Full nameDean Craig Young
Born (1983-10-28) 28 October 1983
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight99 kg (15 st 8 lb)
PositionHooker, Lock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003–12 St. George Illawarra 209 20 0 0 80
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010 Australia 1 0 0 0 0
2010 Country Origin 1 2 0 0 8
2011 New South Wales 1 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2020 St. George Illawarra 6 2 0 4 33
Source: [1][2]

Primarily a hooker or lock, Young spent his entire playing career for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, winning a premiership with them in 2010, and represented Australia and New South Wales. In 2020, he was interim head coach of the club.

Background

Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Young played his junior rugby league for the Dapto Canaries and attended Dapto High School before being signed by the St. George Illawarra Dragons.[3][4]

Young's father, Craig, played 234 games for the St. George Dragons, winning two premierships, and represented Australia and New South Wales.

Playing career

In 2000, Young represented the New South Wales under-17 team while playing in the lower grades for the Illawarra Steelers.[5]

In Round 2 of the 2003 NRL season, Young made his debut for the Dragons against the Parramatta Eels. He became a regular of the Dragons NRL side following his debut, playing at either lock, hooker or second row. In 2006, Young was selected as 18th man for New South Wales in the 2006 State of Origin decider in Melbourne, but did not play.[6]

In 2007, Young played just three NRL games, missing the majority of the season due to a knee injury incurred in 2006 from a Lance Thompson tackle. His recovery was further hindered by complications from surgery which was performed to address this injury. In Round 3 of the 2008 NRL season, Young played his 100th NRL game in a 14–21 loss to the Canberra Raiders.

In July 2009, Young signed a three-year contract with the Dragons.[7]

In May 2010, Young was selected to represent Country in the annual City vs Country Origin game, scoring two tries in Country's first victory since 2006.[8] On 3 October 2010, Young started at hooker and scored a try in the Dragons' 32–8 Grand Final win over the Sydney Roosters.[9] In November 2010, Young was selected in the Australian squad for the Four Nations, making his Test debut in a 34–20 win over New Zealand.[10]

In 2011, Young represented New South Wales for the first time, starting at hooker in their 12–16 Game I loss to Queensland.[11]

On 10 April 2012, Young announced that he would retire at the end of the 2012 NRL season.[12] In Round 15 of the 2012 season, Young played his 200th NRL game in a 20–28 loss to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[13]

Coaching career

In 2013, Young coached the Illawarra Steelers SG Ball Cup side.[14] In 2014, Young and former teammate Ben Hornby were named co-coaches of the Dragons' under-20s team. They finished 4th and made it to the preliminary finals.[15]

In 2015, Young became an assistant coach for the Dragons' NRL side, under head coach Paul McGregor.[16] In 2019, Young worked as an assistant coach for the Tongan national team.[17] In February 2020, he was an assistant coach for the Indigenous All Stars team.[18]

In 13 August 2020, Young was named interim head coach of the Dragons after Paul McGregor resigned mid-season. Following the club's round 17 loss against North Queensland in the 2020 NRL season, Young called out his players during the press conference saying "Same shit, different day," Young said. "It went wrong in blokes not getting their jobs done. Again, for the second week in a row, the game was there to be won in the last five minutes which is what this club wants to be about. "We want to be fighting for the full 80 minutes, right to the death".[19][20] On 16 September 2020, Young informed St. George Illawarra that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season, despite being offered a position alongside incoming head coach Anthony Griffin.[21]

Following the club's round 19 defeat to Newcastle where the Red V lost 42-18, an angry Young spoke to the media saying “We wouldn’t have beaten Dapto the way we played in the first half. It was Under 8s stuff".[22]

On 25 September 2020, Young signed a three-year deal with the North Queensland Cowboys, joining the club as an assistant to incoming head coach Todd Payten.[14]

In Round 20 of the 2020 NRL season, Young guided St. George Illawarra to a 30-22 victory over a depleted Melbourne at Kogarah Oval in his last game in charge as interim head coach.[23]

References
  1. "Dean Young - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
  2. "Dragons Stats". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010.
  3. "Older, wiser Head finally realises promise". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 July 2004. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  4. "Heroes to Legends: Dean Young". NRL.com. 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020.
  5. "2000". 18th Man. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  6. "Young called up to Blues squad". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 July 2006. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016.
  7. "Young re-signs until end of 2012". Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. 18 May 2009. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  8. Thompson, Rod (4 May 2010). "Dean Young following in father's steps". Port News. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020.
  9. "NRL 2010 - Grand Final". Rugby League Project. Archived from the original on 18 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  10. "Australian team named for Four Nations". National Rugby League. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  11. "Young injury could shorten career". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 May 2011. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011.
  12. Hall, Sam; Fitzgerald, Peter (10 April 2012). "Dragons stalwart Dean Young to retire". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  13. Hall, Sam (14 June 2012). "Dragons' Dean Young to play 200th game". Illawarra Mercury. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020.
  14. "Young joins Cowboys on three-year deal". North Queensland Cowboys. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  15. Webeck, Tony (26 September 2014). "Official NYC Preview - Broncos v Dragons". Brisbane Broncos. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  16. Jennings, Mitch (9 January 2015). "Dragons great Dean Young joins Mary". Illawarra Mercury. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015.
  17. Walter, Brad (28 October 2019). "Why Tonga's Lions win is more significant than beating Kiwis". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  18. Dean Young's busy pre-season (Interview). St George Illawarra Dragons. 26 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  19. McKirdy, Lachlan (6 September 2020). "Interim Dragons coach Dean Young has called out his players after another disappointing loss against the Cowboys". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  20. "Paul McGregor to part ways with Dragons". St George Illawarra Dragons. 13 August 2020. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  21. Walsh, Dan (16 September 2020). "Young to exit Dragons as NRL wide assistant moves heat up". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  22. Brunsdon, Simon (20 September 2020). "Knights find some pre-finals form to thump dismal Dragons who 'wouldn't have beaten Dapto'". Fox Sports Australia. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  23. Clarke, George (27 September 2020). "Tyson Frizell signs off in style as St George Illawarra Dragons down second-string Storm". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
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