Dom Young has deadline in mind as rival NRL clubs stalk the in-form Knight‘s signature

The 21-year-old says we haven’t seen the best of him yet while being hunted by a handful of clubs after a blockbuster World Cup for England, scoring nine tries in five games.

It followed a breakout year for the Knights in 2022, in which he scored 14 tries in 20 games on the wing in his first full NRL season.

Young is signed with the Knights until the end of 2023 but has been given the grand tour of a handful of clubs, including the Roosters, Dolphins, Canterbury Bankstown, South Sydney and Gold Coast.

The Knights are also hopeful of re-signing the Englishman after bringing him to Australia from Huddersfield at the start of 2021.

“I’m just leaving it down to my management at the minute, ideally I’d like to get it sorted in the next few weeks. But in the meantime I’m fully focused on starting round one well and having a good year with the Knights,” he said.

“[What’s important to me is] a place where I’m going to be happy, where I can enjoy my footy, like I have been doing here [at the Knights].

“I don’t want to talk too much about it while I’m still signed with the Knights, I want to be respectful towards them and to the boys there but like I said, hopefully I can get it sorted soon.”

With two weeks to go until the season kicks off, it’s crunch time for Young and he admits the sudden interest from some of the NRL’s most successful clubs is flattering. It’s been reported he’s been given a tour of the Bulldogs’ base by Gus Gould, had dinner with Roosters coach Trent Robinson and spent time with Dolphins mentor Wayne Bennett.

“It’s a nice feeling to get recognised by some top clubs, especially coming from where I came from. I only really had a big year last year and obviously off the back of the World Cup too, but it’s pretty exciting,” he said.

The sudden interest in Young’s signature marks a rapid rise for the towering speedster, who came to Australia as a teenager as the Covid-19 pandemic was raging at the start of 2021.

During lockdowns and bubble restrictions he spent a lot of time alone and isolated on the other side of the world from his family, while battling a knee injury he sustained early in his first season with the Knights.

It was a tough initiation to the NRL, but with consistency over the past year he’s been able to build into one of the brightest wingers in the game.

“It was only my first proper big year last year, so there’s definitely a lot of parts of my game I can improve on and I’ve tried to improve on in the pre-season,” he said.

“It’s definitely not the best you’ve seen from me, there’s a lot of levels to go from there so it’s pretty exciting.”

Over the past few months he’s reflected a lot on how far he has come in such a short space of time.

“100 per cent. Just with the whole Covid period as well, my mum is flying out next week so to have my family come out and stay with me and to be close to them and not having to miss them [is nice],” he said.

“It’s a lot harder when you live on the other side of the world. It’s that, and just getting comfortable around the boys and getting around them that’s helped me. That’s obviously reflected on the pitch so for me it’s been a big transition.”

Young will lean on his family while they’re here in Australia as he’s making a decision about his future.

“My dad is pretty involved in all my decision making, my mum as well. They’ve always given me the best advice in life and I haven’t gone too far wrong by listening to them, so I’ll definitely be doing that,” he said.