World Cup: England's Dom Young keen to show former club Huddersfield Giants what they are missing

The 6ft 6in Young made his Super League debut for the Giants in 2019 against St Helens at the age of 17 but made only one more appearance before deciding to try his luck in Australia.

The move paid off handsomely as the Dewsbury youngster quickly established himself as a regular in the NRL, scoring 18 tries in 26 appearances over two seasons with Newcastle Knights, and earned a place in England coach Shaun Wane’s 24-strong World Cup squad.

Young has little doubt that he would not have experienced such a meteoric rise had he stayed with the Giants.

“One of the reasons I left Huddersfield was the lack of opportunities and I’ve never really looked back since I moved to Australia,” the 21-year-old said.

“It was an opportunity to improve. It’s a lot different over there, how serious they take it.

“I had nothing to lose, taking that leap, and I wanted to do it at a young age to try and learn as much as I could. To be honest I didn’t really know what to expect, but I love it.”

Young became a crowd favourite in Newcastle, playing in all but four of the Knights’ 24 matches in 2022, and is relishing the opportunity to strut his stuff in front of an English crowd after being included in Wane’s 22-man squad for the warm-up game against the Bati at Salford’s AJ Bell Stadium.

“Obviously a lot of people here haven’t watched me play, especially live, so I definitely want to show them what I can do and make my mark in this World Cup,” he said.

Young would almost certainly have played for Jamaica, alongside brother Alex, had the World Cup taken place as scheduled in 2021 but the postponement gave him more time to push on with his career and that brought him to the attention of Wane, who made contact with the player through his agent during the Magic Weekend in Brisbane in May.

“It wasn’t on my radar to be honest at the start of the year,” he said. “I guess I put in a few good performances and, after I spoke to Waney, it gathered momentum.

“It’s obviously the ultimate goal for me, to represent my country. I’ve done it before when I was younger and I wanted to do it on a senior level as well.

“It was a no-brainer really, although it was a difficult decision.

“Last year I would have been playing for Jamaica. I have never played with my brother before and we had spoken about it quite a lot so it was hard to tell him that I’d made a choice to come here.

“But I couldn’t turn this opportunity down. He fully understands and is happy for me.

“My mum and dad are real proud of both of us playing in a World Cup. It will be a bit hard if we’re both playing on the same day, where are they going to go?”

Wane will give run-outs to all six of his NRL-based players against Fiji but, with John Bateman and Morgan Knowles suspended and captain Sam Tomkins rested alongside Grand Finalists Matty Lees, Tom Makinson and Mikolaj Oledzki, he has added Liam Marshall, Sam Powell, Harry Smith and Jake Wardle to increase his rotation options.

Luke Thompson, meanwhile, will be looking to pick up from where he left off when he plays his first game on English soil for three years tonight.

The Canterbury Bulldogs prop won the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match in his farewell appearance for St Helens in their 23-6 Super League Grand Final win over Salford in October 2019.

That match was at Old Trafford and Thompson’s next one will be three miles up the road at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford, where England take on Fiji in a World Cup warm-up fixture.

“It will be good to get a hit-out,” he said. “It’s a chance to open the lungs up and see where we’re at.”

The only disappointment for Thompson is that he won’t be running out alongside his former St Helens front row partner Alex Walmsley, who is ruled out of the World Cup through injury.

“We’ll definitely miss big Al,” he said. “I was really excited to get over and link up with him again, so I was devastated when I found out he was out. It’s what it is, though. It’s a next man up mentality to get the job done.”

Thompson was regarded as one of the best front rowers in Super League when he made the last of his 157 appearances for his home-town club and believes his three seasons in the NRL have helped take his game to a new level.

“It’s a real tough competition, definitely a step up from Super League,” he said. “It was a challenge I wanted at the time and I’m really enjoying it. There are 16 teams and every week a real tough game. Obviously the Bulldogs have struggled a bit, but it’s looking good for the next couple of years and I’m looking forward to next season.”