The Canberra Raiders' boom back-rower is in the mix for Mal Meninga's World Cup squad at the end of the year.

Meninga was surprised Young wasn't part of the NSW Blues' State of Origin campaign and has had his eyes on the 24-year-old's breakout season where he's established himself in the Raiders' second row.

Young's developed into a try-scoring edge forward and has started to show the array of skills he's got at his disposal - whether it's his flick passes or his deft kicking game.

If he continues his form over the final four rounds, and can help the Green Machine edge into the top eight, then he could find himself on a plane to England as part of the Australian squad for the World Cup in October.

That starts with the Raiders' massive clash against St George Illawarra at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

With Canberra gun prop Josh Papalii pledging his allegiances to Samoa at the end of the year, Meninga revealed Young and Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton were on his radar for the Kangaroos squad.

"I think Jack Wighton and Hudson Young have done enough to be on the radar," Meninga told The Canberra Times.

"[Young's] been great. I'm surprised he wasn't in the calculations for NSW to be honest with you.

"The back end of his year has been really good. There's four games to go in the domestic round so hopefully he does well and the Raiders play finals, things go their way and he keeps on playing.

"He's had a really good year."

Young was surprised when told of Meninga's interest - although perhaps he shouldn't have been.

He's scored two match-winning tries this season - against Cronulla and Newcastle - and has crossed for seven four-pointers this campaign, his best haul of his young career.

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

"That'd be pretty cool. Obviously it's a dream of mine ever since you were a kid and laced up your first pair of footy boots was to play for Australia, so to even be considered for that squad or mentioned in that squad is very special to me," Young said.

"It would be a massive surprise, but I don't look at those sort of things.

"Rep footy comes off the back of working hard and I don't look too far ahead at rep footy. It's a dream to play rep footy, but honouring my club first is my main focus."

Young's part of Canberra's left edge, which was developing into a damaging combination - along with Wighton, the Raiders' leading try scorer Sebastian Kris (10 tries) and Nick Cotric.

He put his season down to working closely with Wighton, who's played for both NSW and Australia.

The Raiders will be without Cotric (suspended) against the Dragons, with Jordan Rapana set to switch to the left wing.

"I've been working hard at my game and keeping things simple each week has been my main focus," Young said.

"I've been working closely with Jack - Jack's been in the big games, so the closer I work with him I feel like my game's coming along."

NRL ROUND 22

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v St George Illawarra Dragons at Canberra Stadium, 2pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Albert Hopoate, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Emre Guler, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Reserves: 18. James Schiller, 20. Matt Frawley.

Dragons squad: 1. Moses Mbye, 2. Mat Feagai, 3. Jack Bird, 4. Zac Lomax, 5. Tautau Moga, 6. Talatau Amone, 7. Ben Hunt (c), 8. Jack de Belin, 9. Andrew McCullough, 10. Blake Lawrie, 11. Josh McGuire, 12. Jayden Su'a, 13. Michael Molo. Interchange: 15. Aaron Woods, 16. Tyrell Fuimaono , 17. Billy Burns, 20. Jaiyden Hunt. Reserves: 18. Jayden Sullivan, 21. Cody Ramsey.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: