England and Newcastle Knights star Dom Young is next in the hot seat to answer our 20 questions.
1 How did it feel to get the chance to play in the NRL after making just two Super League appearances?
It was a bit strange. Growing up, my goal was always to play in Super League, but when the opportunity came to go over to the NRL, even before I kind of established myself in Super League, it was pretty cool. But as soon as I went over there I knew what I wanted to do, so it’s no surprise that I’m where I am now.
2 What was the scariest thing about moving out to Australia as a 19-year-old?
I had literally just turned 19 when I moved out there so it was just scary. It’s funny to look back on now because I’ve been there for so long, but I think it was just leaving my family behind. I had been living at home with my mum, so going from that to being so far away, the time difference and just knowing how far away from home I was, was quite hard at first. But I managed to get over the homesickness and all that pretty quickly.
3 What do you miss most about the UK when you are over in Australia?
Just the people – my family – and the culture really. I do miss my English food – which is probably a good thing really because it’s all the unhealthy stuff that I shouldn’t be eating anyway.
4 On the flip side to that, what do you miss most about Australia when you come back over here?
I think that’s probably pretty obvious because I always come back October/November time when the sun’s out and it’s boiling over there, but freezing here. I see people over there posting stories from the beach and I’m in England freezing my backside off but it’s all good.
5 Who was your roommate in the England camp during the Ashes – and what were they like to share with?
Usually I’m with Herbie (Farnworth) but I had Kai (Pearce-Paul) this year and it was pretty easy. I was rooming with Kai in Australia anyway so we’re used to it. He’s messy, he’s annoying, he’s all the bad things a roommate should be but we’re good mates so it’s alright I’ll let him off.
6 Who was your rugby league icon growing up?
When I was really young I always loved Lesley Vainikolo. I was a Bradford fan and always used to watch them from the stands and he was always a guy that I used to love watching. Then when I got a bit older I used to love Jermaine McGillvary and Leroy Cudjoe – they were the guys I really looked up to – especially being in Huddersfield as well.
7 If you could go back in time and see any of the rugby league greats in action at the height of their career, who would it be?
I’d love to wind the clocks back and see Martin Offiah in the flesh and see just how quick he was. When you see some of his tries and his highlights he was pretty electric so it’d be pretty cool to go back to that.
8 What has been the greatest moment of your career so far?
To be honest I think all the greatest moments of my career have been in an England shirt. It’s always the highlight of my year coming back home and playing in front of friends and family. I don’t get the opportunity to do too often. But if I picked out a singular moment, it’d either be the try that I scored in the World Cup game against Samoa, or when I scored in the semi-final against Canberra – the crowd was going berserk because that was one of the craziest games I’ve ever played in.
9 Who is the best musician/band you have seen perform live?
I haven’t seen too many live performances to be fair but I’ve seen Stormzy and he was good. It was a while ago and he’s not really released much lately, but at the time I was a big fan of his and it was just a good performance. But I’m not like a big concert guy, I haven’t been to any over in Australia.
10 If you could be on any celebrity TV or reality TV show, which would it be?
I don’t know, but I need to find myself a woman so maybe Love Island or something like that. But I’d never do it.
11 What is your go-to meal?
I love a good Chinese takeaway, and I could pretty much go for the whole menu.
12 Do you have any hidden talents?
I am good at chess and a decent player – does that count?
13 Where do you see yourself in 20 years’ time?
Hopefully not working too hard – I don’t know if the body will allow me to, but hopefully I’ll have a nice family. I don’t know whether I’ll be back home or in Australia but hopefully I will just be settled with a family and have all my important, special people around me.
14 Who’s the toughest opponent you have faced in your career?
It’s a tough one that because as a winger I can just hide out on my wing when I’m playing against all the big guys, but for best player I’ll go for Herbie Farnworth – a fellow Englishman. He definitely gives you a few headaches in defence when you have to worry about him coming at you. He’s a good mate of mine, so I’m sure he’ll love me saying that.
15 What’s top of your bucket list?
The rugby bucket list is obviously to win a competition, win a Premiership. Winning a World Cup with England is up there as well and is probably the ultimate goal.
16 If you could attend any other sporting event in the world, which would you choose and why?
I’d love to go to the Olympics, I reckon that would be pretty sick. Watching something like the 100m sprint final would be pretty cool.
17 Where are you spending Christmas this year – will it be in cold England or sunny Australia?
Unfortunately, I’ll be back in Australia because I’ll be back in training by then. It’s a bit of a shame really because I do enjoy Christmas back in England. It’s probably the only time of year where I actually quite enjoy being inside in the cold and it being snowy. I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around going down to the beach on Christmas Day – it doesn’t really sit well with me – but we make the most of it.
18 What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?
My parents got me a necklace once, which I still wear every day. It’s a nice little reminder of them. When you feel so far away from them, it’s nice to have that little bit of comfort.
19 Will you be making any New Year’s resolutions?
Not really, to be honest. I kinda live pretty good anyway, but maybe I’ll cut out a few more of them unhealthy snacks because I’m trying to lean out a little bit for next year – but we’ll see what happens.
20 What would you like to achieve on a personal level in 2026?
Just to springboard off the Ashes tests, because I thought I did alright in the two games I played, and take that part of my game with me leading into the season. It was a pretty disappointing 2025 with the Knights, but we’ve got a pretty nice squad together for 2026, so hopefully we can get the ball rolling early and have a good year with them.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 516 (January 2026)