He's shown what he can do in the middle, now Hudson Young wants to take his game to the next level on the edge.
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And the off-contract Canberra Raiders young gun vowed he wants to make the capital his home.
The 22-year-old looks set to fill the vacancy left by John Bateman in the Raiders' second row after putting in a solid shift against the Sydney Roosters - including scoring a try at Seiffert Oval on Saturday.
Young played 40 minutes on the right edge in the narrow loss and will likely wear the No.11 jersey against Wests Tigers in round one at Canberra Stadium on March 14.
He enjoyed a breakout season last year, when a spate of injuries to middle forwards helped him establish himself as a member of the Green Machine pack.
"I want to keep moving forward and go to the next level in my game," Young said.
"I felt comfortable in the middle. I want to try to take it onto the edge this year and try and lock down that 11 jersey."
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But he's not resting on his laurels that he's done that just yet.
"Obviously can't get ahead of myself. Nothing's certain until [Canberra coach Ricky Stuart's] picked the team," he said.
"I just tried to put my best foot forward [in the trial] and hopefully it's enough for round one.
"I feel good, I feel fit. Just trying to work on my combinations with George [Williams] and Josh [Hodgson] and Charnze [Nicoll-Klokstad] at the back.
"The more we can get in that in the next two weeks, the better we'll be for round one."
Young's off-contract at the end of 2021, but wants to re-sign with the Raiders for another couple of years.
He wanted to repay the faith Stuart had shown in him after he'd gone through a couple of hefty suspensions.
"Yeah I want to stay. I'm in negotiations with Canberra on re-signing," Young said.
"I'm not sure where they're up to, but my manager and the club are sorting that out.
"I definitely want to stay here. I love the club and I love everything about it here.
"They gave me a chance to come down here so I want to repay them and stay here."
NRL ROUND ONE
March 14: Canberra Raiders v Wests Tigers at Canberra Stadium, 4.05pm.
David Polkinghorne
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
