St George Illawarra Dragons assistant coach Dean Young has reportedly come into the frame as a potential option to coach the Parramatta Eels in 2025.
Young is widely rated as one of the best assistant coaches in the game, and likely a head coach in waiting.
Currently working under Shane Flanagan, this is Young’s second stint at the Dragons, while he also spent time working with Todd Payten at the North Queensland Cowboys in between.
He had previously been in the mix for the Dragons’ job that went to Anthony Griffin after the club axed Paul McGregor and has been credited for his work recently under both Payten and now Shane Flanagan.
Young, who has also been talked about as a head coach in waiting by his former coach Wayne Bennett, is now reportedly one of the options at Parramatta, who are yet to announce a replacement for the axed Brad Arthur.
While the Eels missed Bennett themselves, the master coach told The Sydney Morning Herald that Young is ready for a step up to lead his own team.
“You can’t coach if you can’t lead. He ticks that box,” Bennett told the publication.
“He’s an outstanding person. Simple as that. When you go through all the details of what makes someone outstanding, that’s what he is.
“The best part is Dean actually wants to do it, he’s applied for the job. It’s not about what I think. He obviously thinks he can do it and I know Dean Young well enough to know he wouldn’t have applied for the job if he didn’t have the qualifications and the ability to do it.
“Those champion players, they don’t like failure, no matter what they do. He’s in one of those categories. He’s doesn’t do failure. One thing about Dean, he doesn’t talk it. He lives it. That separates him from a lot of people.”
Bennett, who was a big supporter of Young during his time coaching at the Dragons, has previously attempted to contract the former dummy half. He couldn’t secure Young’s services, but did get another ex-Dragon in Ben Hornby to South Sydney, where he will remain when Bennett heads to Redfern next year.
It has been reported Parramatta showed interest in Bennett, but missed him to the Rabbitohs, with the blue and gold weighing up names like Jason Ryles and Josh Hannay to take over the club next year.
It’s believed the Eels will aim to announce a replacement for Arthur in the coming weeks, with Trent Barrett to see out the season first in his interim head coaching role.