Valentine Holmes insists Dean Young “deserves first crack” at the Dragons coaching job after suggesting the interim boss is poised to land the full-time role. The Dragons board is set to meet on Monday, and their hunt for a new head coach will surely be at the top of the agenda.
Young is considered the frontrunner after overseeing a 2-7 record with the Dragons since taking over from Shane Flanagan, who was sacked as coach after a winless start to the NRL season. Dragons premiership hero Young scored his first win as interim coach after masterminding an upset of defending premiers Brisbane in Round 13, before an impressive 24-10 victory over the Wests Tigers a fortnight ago.
Star centre Valentine Holmes (R) reckons Dean Young (far left) is poised to land the Dragons head coaching role after throwing his support behind the interim coach. Pic: Getty
Fellow 2010 premiership-winning Dragons great and South Sydney assistant Ben Hornby is another strong candidate in what is largely considered as a two-horse race. But Young has strong support from the Dragons playing group, as well as star recruit Scott Drinkwater, who is one of several high-profile stars joining the club next season.
And Holmes believes the fact that Cowboys fullback Drinkwater has signed on alongside the likes of Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs), Luke Metcalf (Warriors) and Connor Watson (Roosters), points to Young’s imminent appointment as head coach. “Probably because they know who it’s going to be,” Holmes said.
“It’s going to be Youngy. I hope it is, and we’ve seen Drinky come out and say something similar and we all back Youngy. We know how much he loves this club and I think he deserves the first crack at it.”
Support grows for Dean Young to land Dragons job
Holmes’ vote of confidence comes after Drinkwater also threw his support behind Young. The pair worked with each other when Young was an assistant at the Cowboys and Drinkwater has been impressed by the improvement of the Dragons under the interim coach in recent weeks – particularly their newfound defensive resolve.
“I do watch a little bit closely now,” Drinkwater said earlier this week. “Youngy’s picking players who are defensive effort-based players and who go after the game that way. They’re in games a lot now and it’s much tighter than what they have been.
“He’s a great coach and I hope he gets the job… But if not, I can’t dwell on it. Whoever comes in to coach, I can’t be sulking about that. We’ll see what happens, but fingers crossed Youngy gets it.”
Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater (R) hopes Dean Young (L) gets the full-time coaching job at the Dragons ahead of his move to the club in 2027. Pic: Getty
Young doesn’t expect the Dragons to make a call on the coaching role at next week’s board meeting and insists his sole focus is on trying to improve the current playing group. And NRL reporter Michael Carayannis admits that while Young has the backing of the players, Hornby’s experience as a long-time assistant under Wayne Bennett at Souths makes him a strong contender for the Dragons job as well.
“I’d say Dean’s the slight favourite because he’s in the building and the players do love him, there’s no doubt about that,” Carayannis told NRL 360. “But I’m sure if you asked (Souths forward) Keaon Kolomatangi who he’d want to be the coach, he’d say Ben Hornby.”
with AAP