"Change everything": Young opens up on interim experience

St George Illawarra’s interim coach Dean Young has spoken on the possibility of becoming the club’s next full-time coach.

After a disastrous 0-7 start, the Dragons sacked Shane Flanagan and moved to appoint the 2010 Premiership player as his temporary replacement.

Despite being in the role for only one game, Young has already looked to put his stamp on the side, having used last week's bye to do so.

"We're trying to change everything, to be honest," Young told SEN’s Kick Off.      

"The way we're doing our meetings, what we're doing on the field, a little tweak to the gym, and as you would have all seen, our fundamentals haven't been good enough.

"We've gone back to the basics, and our catch pass decision making and just making our one-on-one tackles has been a real priority, and we've put plenty of work into that since the Roosters game."

Having been given the role until the end of the season, Young is expected to be one of the leading candidates to permanently fill the role.

But as Young notes, he has been given no assurances for his future in the position.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

“They gave me the opportunity to take over from Shane. I didn't have to do this.

“I could've said, ‘No, I don't want the opportunity', I'll let someone else do it.

“But I've never walked away from a challenge in my life, and I know this is a challenge.

“I know that, this team's down on confidence and we've got a tough draw, but I just want to be here to support this playing group.

“I think I'm the best man for the job, in this current situation.

“I've known a lot of these players for a long period of time and it had a lot to do with, you know, the Couchmans, Hamish Stewart and Dylan Egan and all these good young kids, Jacob Halangahu and Loko (Pasifiki Tonga).

“I don't want to abandon them and walk away from it. So, I'm going to work hard and try to fight our way out of it."

The Dragons will look to break their winless start to 2026 when they host the Knights in Wollongong on Saturday.

SEN League will have live coverage of the match beginning from 12pm AEST with NRL Crunch Time. Kick-off takes place at 3pm.