{"id":634162,"date":"2026-04-27T13:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T13:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634162\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T13:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T13:46:11","slug":"nrl-2026-dean-youngs-chances-of-earning-full-time-head-coach-role-at-dragons-anzac-day-loss-to-roosters-reaction-rugby-league-news-nrl360","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634162\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026\u201d Dean Young\u2019s chances of earning full time head coach role at Dragons, Anzac Day loss to Roosters, reaction, rugby league news, NRL360"},"content":{"rendered":"

Concerns have been raised that Dean Young\u2019s chances of winning the Dragons\u2019 head coaching role full-time may have taken a hit after the embarrassing loss to the Roosters on Anzac Day.<\/p>\n

Young was named interim coach last Monday after the club parted ways with Shane Flanagan.<\/p>\n

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The Dragons premiership winner led the team in just one training session before the 62-16 loss in what was arguably the worst performance from any team so far this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the fear. This is why we all thought they might wait until after Anzac Day to make a decision on Shane Flanagan,\u201d journalist Brent Read said on NRL 360.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hand was forced in the end and Dean Young has had to step into the head coaching role in difficult circumstances against a dangerous team in the Roosters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Dean Young was expecting some sort of reaction out of his side. Anzac Day, a new halfback, 40,000 fans. There seemed to be some renewed vigour around the club but to be pumped by nearly 50, Dragons fans probably left the stadium thinking \u2018here we go again\u2019,\u201d The Daily Telegraph\u2019s Dean Ritchie added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should\u2019ve waited until after Anzac Day because then they have the bye and they can start again fresh but to do it in a hasty way, I think led to that result.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a horror season for the winless Dragons, who are four points behind the second-last placed Storm.<\/p>\n

After Flanagan was axed, it was assumed Young would be named straight away but there were reports that not all factions of he club\u2019s joint venture board wanted Young promoted. <\/p>\n

NRL360 host Braith Anasta, who called the current Dragons situation \u201ca mess\u201d, asked the panel whether the Anzac Day loss has \u201churt the chances\u201d of Young coaching on beyond this season.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt doesn\u2019t help if he doesn\u2019t win a game for a long time but they\u2019ve got to take the circumstances into account,\u201d Ritchie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ve got to make a commitment to Dean Young and say you have the job for two to three years and give him the reigns.<\/p>\n

Those comments sparked a back and forth between Ritchie and Anasta. <\/p>\n

BA: They\u2019re not going to do that, let\u2019s be honest. Because if they weren\u2019t going to do it before Anzac Day they\u2019re not going to do it after…He\u2019s probably got four to six weeks to show he has got what it takes to be a head coach<\/p>\n

DR: Well how fair is that on Dean Young? <\/p>\n

BA: They are in a tough situation, that\u2019s why it is a hard one. They extended Flanno and looked what happened<\/p>\n

DR: Ultimately you have to take the plunge on somebody.<\/p>\n

Read then interjected, believing that despite the rocky start to his tenure, Young is in the \u201cbox seat\u201d to earn the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Dean is in the plum position because he\u2019s there and he can turnaround that playing group. If he can get them playing good football in the next four to six weeks, he\u2019s actually in the box seat,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n

The Dragons have the bye in Round 9 with their next opportunity to record their first win of the season to come against the Knights on May 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Concerns have been raised that Dean Young\u2019s chances of winning the Dragons\u2019 head coaching role full-time may have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-634162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}