Craig Young

Coaching Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Craig Albert Young
Born
Monday, 25th June, 1956
Current Age
67 years and 268 days
Place Of Birth
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Clive Churchill Medal
1977
Dally M Prop Of The Year
1980, 1985
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2019

Known Family Links

Son
Dean Young

Biography

A member of the undefeated Australian Schoolboys tour of England in 1972 Craig Young had a grounding in soccer as a youngster and was playing first grade soccer with Bellambi in the I’warra competition as a 16-year-old. (Young’s father represented Australia in the sport). Young played rugby league for Corrimal on the South Coast before coming to St George as a 20-year-old prop. Ear-marked for a great future by former Australian coach Harry Bath, Young was a key player in the Dragons team dubbed ‘Bath’s Babes’ that won the historic grand final replay in 1977. Young lived up to Bath’s prediction, playing in the first of 20 Test appearances in the Third Test against NZ in 1978. A Kangaroo tourist that year, he played in all five Tests in England and France and was named player of the tour. Lumbered with the uncomplimentary nickname of 'Albert' (as in 'Fat Albert'), Young defied the name with his bullock-like runs that exuded raw strength and determination. In 1979 he captained St George to the club’s 15th (and last) premiership title and led the Dragons stoically during much of the next decade. A regular fixture in Australia's 'engine room' he made his second Kangaroo Tour with the 1982 'Invincibles'. Young stepped down from Test duty after the series white-wash of Great Britain in 1984 and led St George into the grand final the following year, losing to C’bury by a bare point. His last success as captain was in the 1988 Panasonic Cup and he retired the following year, replacing Ted Glossop as coach of the club. Unfortunately, in the dog-eat-dog world of coaching, Young was replaced by Brian Smith in 1991. The father of promising hooker forward Dean Young, Craig ‘returned’ to rep football as team manager of the NSW Blues under coach Ricky Stuart in 2005.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Coaching Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   Games W L D Win %  
Charity Shield - AUS 1 0 1 0 0.00% List
NRL 44 18 26 0 40.91% List
National Panasonic Cup 2 1 1 0 50.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season Games W L D Win %  
St George NSWRL 1989 22 10 12 0 45.45% List
St George NSWRL 1990 22 8 14 0 36.36% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
St George 1989-90 44 18 26 0 40.91% List

Your Say

  • Anonymous
    26/03/2020

    Good tough player should have played more rep footy for nsw

  • Paul Simmons
    28/09/2020

    Touted as a future test captain in 1980 and 1981. Along came Wally Lewis.

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Contributions: Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Paul Carter, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, AJ Lucantonio, Bill Bates

Sources: Newspapers, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1987-88, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1988-89