Dean Young will this week be permanently appointed as the head coach of the St George Illawarra Dragons until at least the end of the 2028 season, beating out hot candidates Ben Hornby and Trent Barrett for the gig.
The Red V board weighed how popular Young is with the playing group, as well as the fact he’s been publicly backed in recent weeks by the likes of Valentine Holmes and 2027 recruit Scott Drinkwater.
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The Dragons board, led by chief executive Tim Watsford and chief operating officer Ben Creagh, met on Monday to endorse Young.
Despite winning just two games, the club loves what he’s building. There is an air that they don’t want to fully commit, of course: hence the 2028 expiry.
Young, who won an NRL premiership with the Dragons in 2010 and has been an assistant coach for some years, will now get two full seasons to prove that he deserve a longer stint as head coach.
He beat Hornby – also a 2010 winner in the Red V – and Barrett to the gig.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting Young’s father and club legend Craig will step aside from his duties as chairman of the St George side of the partnership given his role at the St George District club.
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This marks the first time in three attempts that Young has converted an Dragons interim role into a full-time gig, with his longest coming when he deputised for Paul McGregor at the end of the 2020 season.
He was looked over as an option for Anthony Griffin at the time.
Young had a stint with the Cowboys before re-joining the Dragons in 2024.
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