Raiders tie up Young on 4-year deal as Origin debut talks grow

The Canberra Raiders have moved to tie Hudson Young up to the end of the 2027 NRL season as the 24-year-old star back rower begins to flit into conversations around New South Wales and new Blues debutants.

Young’s deal was rubber-stamped in the nation’s capital on Monday.

The contract extension, which Sam Ayoub told The Canberra Times wasn’t wrapped up just hours before pen was put to paper earlier this week, will see Young earn up to $2,800,000 over four years. That comes to around $700,000 a season for the breakout second rower, who has become a smokey for a State of Origin debut this month.

The Raiders actually already had the Blues hopeful locked up for next year but The Sporting Base understands Canberra powerbrokers used the pay hike for 2024 as leverage. Young was eager to stay with the green machine beyond his current clause.

The Greta-Branxton junior debuted with the Raiders in 2019 and has carved out a key starting role for himself in the five years since. He has scored 29 tries in 83 games for the capital’s club.

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With the Raiders extension all locked up, the 24-year-old has begun dreaming of an Origin debut. Teams will be picked early next week, and Young is hoping he can be among the first-name Blues picks, even if it’s part of the squad rather than with a playing role.

“Every kid that pulls on a jersey wants to play for the Blues,” Young told ABC Sport last week.

“I’m no different, it’s been a dream ever since I started playing footy. Hopefully I’ll be able to live that out.”

This season he’s already scored five tries in 10 games and just cracked 1,000 running metres for the year too. In 2023’s opening stanza, Young has made 292 tackles at an 88.8% efficiency and clocked up a mighty 19 offloads. Talk around his form puts him right in the race to play off the bench for Freddy Fittler’s Blues team.

The New South Wales and Queensland Origin lineups will be named by May 22.

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