St George Illawarra caretaker Dean Young says it's a "waste of time" worrying about the future as the struggling NRL club nears the end of a protracted coaching search.
The Dragons board will meet on Monday with a jovial Young laughing off speculation he could be in for a positive phone call ahead of an away clash against premiership contenders Warriors.
Former Dragons champion Young is one of the more likely candidates for the vacant role in a two-horse race with fellow 2010 premiership winner and South Sydney assistant Ben Hornby.
Young has put forward a worthwhile case, holding a 2-7 record after a winless start under sacked coach Shane Flanagan.
The last-placed Dragons' breakthrough 30-26 win came against reigning premiers Brisbane, before heading into last week's bye with a 24-10 triumph over Wests Tigers.
Still, Young maintained his public stance on his coaching aspirations ahead of Monday's board meeting.
Asked if he was expecting good news next week, Young said: "No, look, the club's got a job to do and I'm letting them do that.
"I've got a job to do, and that's to try to improve the playing group that I've been given.
"My sole focus is giving everything I've got to this playing group and I find that quite easy."
Young even went so far as to say planning for next season was futile.
"That would be an absolute waste of time, so I haven't given that any energy whatsoever," Young said.
St George Illawarra's chances against the second-placed Warriors may be low but not zero, with the Dragons looking to claim back-to-back wins for the first time since round 22-23 last season.
Feeling belief is growing in the group, Young urged his players to shift into gear against the Warriors.
Young also confirmed fullback Tyrell Sloan is fit to play after hurting his hamstring in the first half against the Tigers.
"We've got to be willing to fight for 80 minutes," Young said of the Warriors clash.
"There's a little bit of belief building. Our last three weeks we've been a lot more consistent with the style of footy we want to play.
"I felt like since I've taken over we've performed reasonably well one week and then taken a step back, and then performed well and then taken a step back.
"The last three games we really focused on being consistent statistically.
"From everyone's eyes I reckon you can tell that we have been a little bit more consistent.
"We need to just go another level now."
