Dom Young left Huddersfield Giants aged just 19 to head down under to the NRL and ever since he’s become a force of his own, he’s now revealed how links with and chats to Wigan Warriors legend Martin Offiah have helped him raise his game.
Young is currently having the best season of his life for Newcastle Knights, tying their regular season try scoring record, before scoring in the team’s playoff match to take his tally t0 25 for the season.
This immense season comes off the back of a breakout World Cup in which he scored nine tries in five games, demonstrating his freakish athleticism and pace.
It was during that home World Cup where links to ex Wigan and Widnes legend ‘Chariots’ were first made and Young has spoke with the Daily Telegraph about that.
“After the World Cup the comparisons started to pop up between us. Offiah even reached out to me as well just to tell me I’m doing well and to keep up the good work,” Young said.
“Just to be likened to someone like him, everyone has seen what he is capable of, it’s a genuine honour.
“He’s a legend over in England, so hearing from him really did give me a little confidence boost.”
Young also spectacularly revealed how close he was to a code switch before the Knights and other NRL sides came looking into his services, something that happened at just 15 – two years before he even debuted for Huddersfield in Super League.
“I started coming on the radar of NRL clubs when I was 15, it was pretty weird,” Young explained.
“You don’t expect people to look over here to be looking at you when you’re that young. I was actually close to switching codes, that was on the cards.
“A lot of people back home thought I would be suited to union. I’d never played before but it’s a pretty big sport back in England.
“But as soon as I spoke to the Knights it felt like the right place.”
He will leave the Knights in the off-season and head to join his new club Sydney Roosters but Young is more than aware that there’s still a job to finish in Newcastle.
“It was a pretty hard decision to be honest, a lot harder than what people think anyway, it took me a long time to make a decision.
“I definitely love this club. But I had to look at the bigger picture and that was the decision I had come to.
“But I’m not done here yet. We hopefully still have a few more games to go for the Knights.”
