“Welcome to the Roosters!”

Dom Young had just returned to Sydney after being released from hospital in England when he was thrust into a brutal pre-season army camp with his new Sydney Roosters team-mates.

As one of the fastest players in the NRL, Young was conditioned for the running, but he noticed the six kilograms he’d lost when the players were forced to carry an army stretcher from Allianz Stadium to Centennial Park and back.

Then there was swimming, more running and a sleepless night spent at Randwick Army Barracks.

It wasn’t the introduction to his new club that the 22-year-old wing sensation expected as he was still recovering from a virus that resulted in him spending two weeks in a hospital ward and missing England’s series against Tonga.

“They said to me, ‘we’re not going to throw you straight in, we will just ease you in, it will be good for you to meet some of the boys and connect’,” Young recalled during an interview about his rise for the Hisense Upgrade Season series.

“Then as soon as that whistle blew, I just did everything. It was horrible, it was torture, I was struggling. That definitely was some welcome. It was like, ‘welcome to the Roosters’.”

Young, who is set to be one of the stars of the NRL finals series after helping the Roosters to a top four berth, had agreed to join the club after three seasons at the Knights.

However, his future seemed uncertain as he spent weeks in a crowded hospital ward in Leeds.