The NSW Rugby League is pleased to announce that True Blue and premiership-winner Dean Young will join newly-appointed Westpac NSW Blues Head Coach Laurie Daley as part of his highly-credentialled support staff.
Following yesterday’s announcement that Daley will return to lead the team from 2025-26, Young has been confirmed to join the Blues High-Performance staff, replacing John Cartwright (now working in UK Super League) from the support staff who assisted Michael Maguire in the successful 2024 campaign.
Young said he was looking forward to linking up with Daley again after a role as his Assistant Coach for the Indigenous All-Stars in 2020 and working with him as a player in 2004, when he was the Dragons Coaching Consultant.
“It’s a privilege to be able to work with the NSW Blues and I won’t be taking it for granted,” Young said.
“The staff and players did an incredible job in beating Queensland in this year’s series and I’m looking forward to working with everyone involved in the upcoming series.
“I have worked with Laurie before and I know what he’s capable of and I’m grateful that he has asked me to come on board.
“It’s a great opportunity to work with the game’s elite players and I just want to play my part in making sure they are well prepared and have the opportunity to be at their best.”
Young played 209 NRL games for the Dragons (2003-12) and one game for NSW (2011), before starting his coaching career in 2013 with the Illawarra Steelers SG Ball Cup. Young’s father Craig also played 10 games for NSW (1979-84).
Young made his NRL coaching debut in 2015 as an Assistant Coach at the Dragons, including a stint as interim Head Coach in 2020, before moving to the Cowboys as Assistant Coach in 2021. He returned to the Dragons in 2024 as Senior Assistant Coach. He has also been Assistant Coach to the Tongan national team since 2019.
NSWRL Chief Executive David Trodden said: “Dean Young is a highly credentialled Assistant Coach with NRL experience as the Cowboys and Dragons to call on.
“He is a great addition to the High-Performance team.”
Daley will get together with his staff in the near future to begin planning for the 2025 series, which will kick off with a Blues camp in February.
