{"id":132404,"date":"2025-09-10T09:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T09:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/132404\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T09:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T09:11:14","slug":"hudson-young-biting-at-grand-final-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/132404\/","title":{"rendered":"Hudson Young biting at Grand Final chance"},"content":{"rendered":"

A season opener in Las Vegas<\/a>, representing New South Wales in the State of Origin<\/a> and now the prospect of playing in a Grand Final.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been an enjoyable year for Canberra Raiders<\/a> second rower Hudson Young.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think anytime when you can\u2019t 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\u2019s a feeling I\u2019ve got every day,\u201d Young told CD at a media day on Tuesday 9 September.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited to come in here and just be a part of it and obviously didn\u2019t win the (Origin) series with New South Wales. We had such a great time, a great experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited for the finals series.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Young said he was excited to play a home final.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime here getting to play in Canberra, I love it. But to have the finals here, it\u2019s really exciting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited for the community and everyone that turned out to support us throughout the year, now we get to repay them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a good break. So yeah, really excited. The competition really starts now, doesn\u2019t it? So, we only need to win three games and see what happens,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Young was one of a large number of key players to be rested in the side\u2019s final regular season match on 7 September, which saw the inexperienced Raiders lose to the Dolphins 62-24.<\/p>\n

Looking toward the match-up with the Broncos, Young said the Brisbane side had been in great form this past month.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the back of what Payne (Haas) and (Patrick) Carrigan do up front, and then Reece (Walsh) has been outstanding at the back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like their halves have been playing well as well, so we need to make sure that we\u2019re on our game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a good team and we\u2019ll be looking to come up against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in the same sense, we sort of earned that throughout the year with our performance,\u201d he said.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we spoke about it in the preseason, making this our fortress here, and making sure that when teams come here, they\u2019ve come here to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve probably struggled in the years before; we\u2019ve been good on away trips but not at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, to have the season that we\u2019ve had here at home, it\u2019s exciting and happy to repay them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having missed out on playing in the Raiders\u2019 GF match against the Roosters in 2019 through suspension, Young said he was looking forward to the prospect this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well I missed out on the GF through suspension, but I don\u2019t know if I was going to get picked or not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously disappointing but looking forward, since then I\u2019ve always played in a prelim final year in 2020 against the Storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019ve played in finals since then, but there\u2019s a different vibe in the team at the moment to other years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like everyone\u2019s just so excited. The belief is so high and everyone\u2019s so confident that we can actually win the comp this year and I truly believe that.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Game day guide<\/p>\n

The gates will open at 2:15pm for a 4:05pm kick-off.<\/p>\n

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

Canberra Daily would love to hear from you about a story idea in Canberra and the surrounding region.\u00a0Click here to submit a news tip.<\/a><\/p>\n

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