A season opener in Las Vegas, representing New South Wales in the State of Origin and now the prospect of playing in a Grand Final.

It’s been an enjoyable year for Canberra Raiders second rower Hudson Young.

“I think anytime when you can’t wait to wake up to come in here and train, and just be a part of something, especially at the moment, is a good year and that’s a feeling I’ve got every day,” Young told CD at a media day on Tuesday 9 September.

“I’m so excited to come in here and just be a part of it and obviously didn’t win the (Origin) series with New South Wales. We had such a great time, a great experience.

“I’m really excited for the finals series.”

The Canberra Raiders will take on the Brisbane Broncos in front of a sold-out home crowd in their opening week Qualifying Final at GIO Stadium on Sunday 14 September. The match will kick off at 4:05pm.

Young said he was excited to play a home final.

“Anytime here getting to play in Canberra, I love it. But to have the finals here, it’s really exciting,” he said.

“I’m really excited for the community and everyone that turned out to support us throughout the year, now we get to repay them.”

Young said ahead of the finals series his body and mind were feeling good, and that his ongoing groin issue from earlier in the year had gone.

“I had a good break. So yeah, really excited. The competition really starts now, doesn’t it? So, we only need to win three games and see what happens,” he said.

Young was one of a large number of key players to be rested in the side’s final regular season match on 7 September, which saw the inexperienced Raiders lose to the Dolphins 62-24.

Looking toward the match-up with the Broncos, Young said the Brisbane side had been in great form this past month.

“On the back of what Payne (Haas) and (Patrick) Carrigan do up front, and then Reece (Walsh) has been outstanding at the back,” he said.

“I feel like their halves have been playing well as well, so we need to make sure that we’re on our game.

“They’re a good team and we’ll be looking to come up against them.”

Young said it was a good feeling to see fans snap up tickets to the match, which sold out within hours of going on sale to the public.

“But in the same sense, we sort of earned that throughout the year with our performance,” he said.

“And we spoke about it in the preseason, making this our fortress here, and making sure that when teams come here, they’ve come here to play.

“We’ve probably struggled in the years before; we’ve been good on away trips but not at home.

“So, to have the season that we’ve had here at home, it’s exciting and happy to repay them.”

Having missed out on playing in the Raiders’ GF match against the Roosters in 2019 through suspension, Young said he was looking forward to the prospect this year.

“Yeah, well I missed out on the GF through suspension, but I don’t know if I was going to get picked or not,” he said.

“It’s obviously disappointing but looking forward, since then I’ve always played in a prelim final year in 2020 against the Storm.

“So, I’ve played in finals since then, but there’s a different vibe in the team at the moment to other years.

“I feel like everyone’s just so excited. The belief is so high and everyone’s so confident that we can actually win the comp this year and I truly believe that.  Let’s see what happens.”

This season alone, Young has played 20 matches, recording 10 tries, 9 line breaks, 3 line break assists and 35 passing offloads. He has also made 618 tackles with a tackle efficiency of 91.6 per cent.

Game day guide

The gates will open at 2:15pm for a 4:05pm kick-off.

The game day entertainment will include face painting, an opportunity to take a photograph with the minor premiership trophy, player cards to collect from the membership marquee, a photograph booth and more!

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