‘The most athletic player I’ve seen’: Why Dom Young is scoring miracle tries

When he first arrived in Australia, Alex McKinnon remembers Dom Young rocking up to his house and having to remind himself how big his first significant overseas signing actually was.

Young was not only McKinnon’s first massive capture at the Knights, he was also the young kid staying out the back in his granny flat.

But the thing which most stood out for McKinnon, the former Knights recruitment manager, was he thought Newcastle had made a blunder in sticking the giant, dreadlocked Englishman on the wing instead of the centres.

“You sign a player and you have hopes of what someone could be,” McKinnon said. “I was so nervous. I’m his visa sponsor. It was my first time in the job and I thought, ‘I’m just going to take a risk’.

“[But] he didn’t look comfortable under the high ball and didn’t look great scoring those tries. Yet, his ability to adapt and evolve into the player he is, finishing how he does now is incredible. That all comes through hard work. His ability in the air and put-downs is all practice.”

On Saturday night, Young claimed the outright record for most tries by a Newcastle player in a single season with one of the most outrageous four-pointers in the NRL era.

With his legs in the air and back facing the wrong way under a Mat Feagai tackle, Young contorted his body and managed to throw his right arm out as the ball somehow stayed in his grasp and kissed the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium turf. He couldn’t have possibly seen where he was trying to put it.

“I’ve watched a lot of football and been around a lot of good players, but I’d never seen someone so athletic when I saw him,” McKinnon said of Young, who arrived in Australia after just two Super League games.

“It was his speed and his shape, I suppose. That’s just 20 per cent of it, though. I always thought he was going to be a centre and I thought the Knights were doing wrong by him. But how professional he’s been in his approach, it’s been amazing.

“I knew he wasn’t going to be coming here just for a good time. I’m sure that was a concern for the Knights, signing a young kid coming out of COVID and how he would approach living in Newcastle.

“That has to be a massive rap for Adam [O’Brien] and the coaching staff. I thought he would be a right centre developing into a back-rower, but he’s gone out - and he might even stay there.”

Young scored his 22nd and 23rd tries of the season in Newcastle’s comprehensive win over the Dragons, setting up a qualifying final against the Raiders at McDonald Jones Stadium. That tally came after he was dropped to reserve grade earlier this season.

But Young, who will join the Roosters next season, has mastered the art of the acrobatic put-down and will be top of the list for best try of the season.

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