Dragons assistant coach Dean Young has been revealed as a surprise contender to become the Eels’ next head coach.
The race to replace Brad Arthur had reportedly been whittled down to two, Josh Hannay and Jason Ryles, after six candidates were interviewed in the first round.
But St George Illawarra premiership winner Young is also still in contention with Hannay and Ryles, according to The SMH.
And Young has received a glowing endorsement from the coach who Parramatta initially went after but missed out on – Wayne Bennett.
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Bennett rejected the Eels to instead rejoin the Rabbitohs next year, but the seven-time premiership winning coach says Young is up to the task.
Young played under Bennett when the Dragons won their first and only premiership as a joint venture in 2010.
“You can’t coach if you can’t lead. He ticks that box,” Bennett told The SMH.
“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.”
As an assistant, Young has sandwiched two stints at the Dragons with three years at the Cowboys under Todd Payten. Bennett tried to employ him at both the Rabbitohs and Dolphins.
Ryles is an assistant at the Storm and Hannay is currently working under Maroons coach Billy Slater but has held interim head-coaching roles at Cronulla and North Queensland.
“They are all assistant coaches… (and) no one has more qualifications than Dean in that department,” Bennett said.
“That’s the challenge for the people selecting it, they have all been assistant coaches. It’s not my prerogative to make their decision for them.
“They have to make a decision on who they think is the best person to coach their club. If it’s Dean, I would be absolutely elated for him. If it’s the other guys, I’d be pleased for them.”
Bennett addresses Dolphins rotations | 04:59
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