For Dean Young, 2010 was the year he and St George Illawarra proved the doubters wrong.

The 27-year-old, who will make his Kangaroos debut in Saturday's Four Nations clash with New Zealand in Auckland, admits he thought his chance of winning representative honours had passed him by.

However, winning a first call-up in the Australian side caps off a fine 12 months for the back-rower, which also saw him help the Dragons joint venture win their first premiership.

Young will start off the bench at Eden Park, just three years after being warned he may not play again following a serious knee injury that required six operations.

"It has almost been the perfect year for me," Young told AAP.

"I thought rep footy was over for me, if I am honest. This year I was picked in the Country side and I learned a lot in that week and really enjoyed it so to back it up by playing for Australia with the year we've had with the Dragons is unbelievable."

After being named 18th man for NSW in 2006, Young was stretchered off against Cronulla in round 26.

What should have been a routine operation to repair his ligaments turned into a nightmare that sidelined him for almost two years.

"I had three operations in eight weeks, six in total, I did my PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), medial and had a full reco," he said.

"But then I got an infection and that undid the medial work and it all had to be done again.

"What I went through with my knee, all those hours in rehab and in the pool, only my wife really knows about and to come through all that and make my dream come true makes this extra special."

The Dragons' grand final victory over the Sydney Roosters last month, saw an emotional Young break down in tears after the final siren, and he freely admits silencing the critics was the best day of his life.

"The club has been through a lot and the teams before this team have been through a lot, for some reason the media love to hammer the Dragons and love to see them fail," he said.

"They are lying if they say they don't, they love to kick us and remind us of when we have failed.

"We have copped it for two years, they said our attack was no good, we were chokers who couldn't win big games and bagging individuals in the team.

"To overcome all that and prove everyone wrong shows what we are about. It was a feeling I can't describe.

"It was hard not to react but you couldn't. The only way to shut the media up was by winning.

"We used to say it didn't bother us, but it did. We used to lie in front of the cameras.

"That is why in the end it was one of the best days of my life. I can't describe that feeling."

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