He's not the Messiah: Dragons' caution over rookie Reed

The winless Red V face the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Saturday. 

Reed was named to start at halfback on Tuesday replacing Kyle Flanagan, who has been dumped to the bench following his father's axing by the Dragons on Monday.

Flanagan snr had expressed concern about handing Reed an NRL start, but in the first teamlist of his caretaker tenure Young showed no such hesitation. 

"People will probably judge my decision and say that we're 0-7 and chucking in a kid on debut on Anzac Day is risky," Young said.

"I wouldn't do it unless I believed in him and I wanted him to know that I believe in him.

"His parents fully know that I'm in there for the long haul with him and he's a big part of the future." 

Young is expected to throw his hat in the ring for the permanent role.

He said the shake-up was necessary as the bottom-placed Dragons look to avoid a 12th-straight loss across this season and the back end of the 2025 campaign. 

"We need change and where we're going isn't getting us to where we want to go," Young said. 

"We're getting the same results each week where we're leading games and then not getting it done. 

"We need a bit of a circuit breaker and I know Kade will do a good job, but Kade Reed is not the saviour of this club. 

"He needs the 16 players that take the field on the weekend to do their job, and then he'll be able to do his." 

As well as dumping Flanagan jnr, Young has also shown assistant coach Michael Ennis, who was in charge of the Dragons' attack, the door. 

NSW Cup coach Willie Talau and Tom Eisenhuth will assist the NRL side this week with Young to take stock after Saturday's game.

The Dragons are on the bye after the Roosters clash.

"I've got some time to look at what options I've got," Young said. 

"I've got strong views on where the club's at, where it needs to go .... but those conversations are pointless at this time."