Craig Young
Personal information
Full nameCraig Albert Young
Born (1956-06-25) 25 June 1956[1]
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight103.4 kg (16 st 4 lb)[1]
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1977–88 St. George Dragons 234 11 0 2 42
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1979–84 New South Wales 10 0 0 0 0
1978–84 Australia 20 1 0 0 4
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1989–90 St. George Dragons 44 18 0 26 41
Source: [2][3][4]

Craig Young (born 25 June 1956) is an Australian former representative rugby league footballer for the Australia national rugby league team, the New South Wales Blues and a stalwart player over 11 seasons from 1977 to 1988 with the St. George Dragons in the NSWRL premiership competition. He played as a prop-forward. His nickname was "Albert" after his middle name and/or the cartoon character Fat Albert.

Background

Young was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia; and attended Corrimal High School.[5]

Early sporting success

Young had a strong grounding in the sport of soccer as a youngster and might have followed in his father's footsteps and turned professional (his father Bob Young represented Australia). His brother Warwick was a goalkeeper who played state league soccer for the Wollongong Wolves and for St George. At the age of 16, Craig was playing for Bellambi in the Illawarra soccer competition while he was also competing for Corrimal Cougars in rugby league. League eventually won the battle and Young was selected to tour Great Britain as an Australian Schoolboys team in 1972.[6]

Club career

Young's signature was chased by several clubs but the St. George Dragons eventually secured his services, and went on to become one of their greatest players. In his 1977 debut season coach Harry Bath claimed Young was destined for a great future and in that same year Young was instrumental in helping the Dragons take the premiership title, beating the Parramatta Eels in the grand final.

In 1979, Young was awarded captaincy of the Dragons' side and at 22 years of age led the side to its 15th title. He captained the side through tougher times up till 1988 including the 1985 Grand Final loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs.

In his final 1988 season he captained the Dragons when they won the mid-week 1988 Panasonic Cup competition, beating the Balmain Tigers 16–8.

Representative career

He was selected for the 1978 Kangaroo Tour and played in all five Tests and eleven Tour matches. He was named "Player of the Tour".

He first represented for New South Wales in 1979, making five appearances under the old selection rules. He was selected for the Blues in the first ever State of Origin fixture in 1980 and made four further State of Origin appearances up till 1984.

In 1982 Young was named man-of-the-match in Australia's series-winning second test match against New Zealand.

On the 1982 Invincibles Kangaroo tour Young played in five of the six Tests as well as six Tour matches. His final national representative selection was at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the 1st test of the domestic Ashes series against Great Britain in 1984.

Post-playing career

Young took up a coaching role at the Dragons in 1989 for two seasons until he was replaced by Brian Smith at the beginning of the 1991 season. He returned to the Dragons' coaching staff as recruitment manager in 2003.[7]

Young along with his sons, Brad and Dean, own the Unanderra Hotel and Cabbage Tree Hotel. They purchased the Unanderra Hotel in 1991 (the year after Craig Young was sacked as coach of the Dragons) and The Cabbage Tree Hotel in 2008.

Since 2005, Young has had a role as team manager with the New South Wales Blues squads.[8]

Young is the father of former Dragons hooker Dean Young, who played in the club's 2010 premiership team and later coached the club in 2020.[9][10] Craig Young's wife Sharon died in 2016.[11]

Awards and accolades

Young was awarded Life Membership of the St. George Dragons in 1988.[12]

While playing football, Young also served in the New South Wales Police Force and in 2008, rugby league's centenary year in Australia, he was named at prop in a NSW Police Team of the Century.[13] On 20 July 2022, Young was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gary Lester, ed. (1986). Rugby League Action '85. Sydney, New South Wales: John Fairfax Marketing. p. 57. ISBN 0-909558-29-9.
  2. ↑ Rugby League Project Coaching
  3. ↑ RLP
  4. ↑ RL stats
  5. ↑ Campbell, David (7 March 2001). Corrimal High School Fiftieth Anniversary (Speech). Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  6. ↑ "Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Sporting Pulse. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  7. ↑ Tim Barrow (29 January 2009). "Dragons help their juniors reach top". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  8. ↑ "Hindmarsh says alcohol a part of Origin". The Age. 17 May 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  9. ↑ "2010 St George Illawarra Dragons Premiership team: Where are they now?". Sporting News. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Walter, Brad (13 August 2020). "McGregor era over as Dragons coach falls on his sword". NRL.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Masters, Roy (13 September 2016). "Vale Sharon Young - the heart and soul of St George rugby league club". smh.com.au. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Dragons - Our Proud History. website
  13. ↑ "The NSW Police team of the century". Macquarie Media Network. 15 June 2008. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  14. ↑ "Gasnier joins Immortals in St George Dragons 'Team of the Century'". www.nrl.com.
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