England international Dom Young hits back on NRL return in rare result

Josh McAllister
Dom Young Newcastle Knights PA

Photo: Darren Pateman/AAP/PA Images

England international Dom Young scored four tries for Newcastle Knights in their NRL clash with Manly Sea Eagles. 

Young, 21, was originally named to play in the New South Wales Cup again after featuring in the competition last weekend against Canberra.

He was dropped from the NRL squad following the side’s 36-20 defeat to the Dolphins at home.

The international winger was named in the reserves by Adam O’Brien ahead of the Round Five fixture with Manly, and was a late call up following a withdrawal to Hymel Hunt with a rib injury.

Young scored his first on 23 minutes, before adding to his tally less than 10 minutes later.

He completed his hat-trick on 55 minutes, and his fourth in the dying stages of the game forced the tie into golden point extra time.

After 90 minutes and 12 tries, the two sides couldn’t be split with a 34-34 result in what was the first drawn NRL match since Round 3 in 2020.

WATCH: Dom Young scores four in first NRL draw since 2020

Shaun Wane: Playing in the NRL doesn’t guarantee England selection

England boss Shaun Wane recently held his first press conference of the year ahead of the mid-season international clash with France in a double-header in Warrington.

With players based in the NRL competition not expected to fly over to feature in the game, the 58-year-old coach explained he will keep them in the loop in 2023, with the hopes of an end of season test series against Tonga on home soil.

“When we have meetings with our players over here they get videos,” Wane said on his Australian-based players.

“I have Zooms with them and everything I speak to our players over here they get.

“They have one-on-ones with me and we have group Zooms so they get a lot of information.

“When they arrived in the World Cup, people like Tom Burgess, had been in many meetings and understood what we were about and what were the England standards, so it was quite an easy process.”

Wane also admits that playing in the NRL competition does not guarantee a spot in his England camp.

Seven players from his 2021 World Cup squad currently play Down Under, including in-form Brisbane Broncos centre Herbie Farnworth, while Wane acknowledged Young’s recent form that saw him dropped.

Wane continued: “They’ve not played many games. Hopefully I get over to see them later on in the year but they are both good players. Even though Dom is struggling at the minute he can play as you saw last October.

“I’m not one of them people where I’m obsessed that if they play in the NRL then they play for England, that’s definitely not the case.

“I made a choice on that with Ryan Sutton, so they know that their form needs to be of an England-standard player in the NRL.”

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NRL Dom Young