Canberra Raiders head coach Ricky Stuart has revealed playing for Australia was the catalyst for star second-rower Hudson Young to become a better version of himself.
The Maitland-born forward, who now has 125 games under his belt for the Raiders since debuting in 2019, has had three State of Origin appearances over the last two years, but Stuart said it was the games for Australia - of which he played three during last year's Pacific Championships - which have turned him into one of the competition's elite back-rowers over the first seven weeks this year.
"I'm his biggest fan. The best thing that happened to him was he played for Australia. He saw people believed in him at representative football. There was a couple that hadn't believed in him, but Mal [Meninga] showed some great faith," Stuart said during his post-match press conference after Young scored his third consecutive double during a win over the Gold Coast Titans on Sunday afternoon.
"I know Mal was very happy to have him in the team.
"I talked to Mal about Huddo, and said this is the sort of person you'd love in your team, and we all love him."
Stuart said he wasn't sure whether Young would be in the mix for State of Origin selection, however.
"I don't know. That will be something for Loz. He would be pretty happy with his form, though, I know that," the coach added.
Young has seven tries from seven games to date, but also has 142 metres per game to go with 10 offloads, and is churning out consistent performances at a level like he hasn't been able to produce previously.
His form, despite a challenging fixture list to start 2025, has helped the Raiders into the top four, with the club winning five of their first seven games.
