The St George Illawarra Dragons have reportedly landed their first signing off the field as Shane Flanagan looks to rebuild the club in 2024.
Flanagan will look to build his coaching roster from the ground up, although it's believed current interim coach Ryan Carr is likely to keep a place after impressing officials both privately and publically.
With almost every other place up for grabs though, The Sydney Morning Herald are reporting that favourite son and 2010 premiership winner Dean Young will make the switch back to the club in 2024.
Young, who is currently at the North Queensland Cowboys as an assistant coach under Todd Payten and is highly regarded by both Payten and premiership coach Wayne Bennett, was originally in the running to land the head coaching role at the Dragons.
It was believed Young was originally in a three-way race with Jason Ryles and Ben Hornby, who were also former players at the club.
Ryles was close to landing the role before electing to sign with the Melbourne Storm where he could be in a position to take over from Craig Bellamy when he hangs up the clipboard.
Following Ryles giving the Red V the cold shoulder, Young and Hornby fell out of the race, with the club instead bringing in an experienced voice in Shane Flanagan, who won a premiership with the Cronulla Sharks in 2016.
Young was the interim coach at the Dragons following the exit of Paul McGregor and seen by many at the time as the logical next head coach prior to the disastrous appointment of Anthony Griffin.
Griffin was axed earlier this season by the Dragons on the back of six straight losses and two seasons without a trip to the finals.
The publication are reporting that the deal for Young to join the Dragons as an assistant will be three years long, although it's unclear if there will be an out clause should Young be approached for a head coaching role during that time.
The three-year deal is the same length of time Flanagan has been contracted to the club.
Young and Flanagan worked at the Dragons together under McGregor, when Flanagan was also part of the team. Flanagan ultimately had two stints at the Dragons, one being an assistant coach and the other as a recruitment consultant.
