St George Illawarra hooker Dean Young signed a three-year contract extension on Monday, keeping him at the Dragons until the end of the 2012 NRL season.

Young has been one of the club's standouts in their brilliant start to 2009 and is their second major signing within a week after backrower Ben Creagh committed until the end of 2013 last Thursday.

The 25-year-old local junior approached coach Wayne Bennett recently to ask for an extension.

"I went and saw Wayne and just let him know that I wanted to stay at the club and I love the Dragons," Young said.

"It just started there and my manager and the club did the rest.

"All of my family and friends are here and I definitely don't want to move away so it is great that we were able to agree to terms.

"It is great having Wayne here and with a great bunch of blokes here as well it made my decision easy."

Bennett said Young has shown tremendous leadership qualities this season and is optimistic about his future.

"The signing of Dean was important to us as he is quite a leader amongst the group and offers a lot of things both on and off the field," Bennett said.

"His family has a long history at the club and he is developing his own. Being here for the next three years gives him the chance to add to that."

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