Dean Young has made his case for the full-time job at St George-Illawarra and can only hope his position as interim coach will help his cause in the final weeks of the NRL season.
Young, Anthony Griffin and David Furner were interviewed by the Dragons on Thursday ahead of Sunday's trip to North Queensland to face the Cowboys.
Gold Coast's comeback win against Young's side last weekend all but ruled out a finals charge for the Dragons with four rounds to play.
After his interview on Thursday, Young can only assume his performance over the next month will become part of his resume.
"The process was very professional for the club; I put my best foot forward on Thursday night, gave it my best shot so we'll wait and see what happens," he said on Saturday.
"I've just taken on board what the CEO has told me, he's kept me up to date and asked me to present so I did that and I'll leave it up to them now.
"It's a question for the board whether the next four weeks and the results have an impact on the decision."
The Dragons beat Parramatta in Paul McGregor's last game in charge, Young going 1-1 in games against Brisbane and Gold Coast since.
All three have been tight affairs and that's all he asks of his side in the run home.
"I think I've made it pretty clear in the two weeks I've been interim coach that I look for people who compete, who are consistent and disciplined and that won't change if I get the opportunity moving forward.
"We've started the process and the last three weeks have been pretty similar, where we've been in the fight the last two minutes ... and we can't say we did that earlier in the season.
"We want to be there fighting at the death and the challenge is doing it again."
The Cowboys, themselves under an interim coach in Josh Hannay, have lost nine straight.
Jake Clifford is back in place of halfback Michael Morgan (calf), who is out with a calf injury while Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is back from a hamstring strain on the wing.
Forward Tyrell Fuimaono returns from suspension in place of Trent Merrin (hamstring) on the bench as Ben Hunt plays his 250th NRL appearance.
STATS THAT MATTER
* St George Illawarra is missing the fewest tackles in the NRL (21.4 per game), while North Queensland is busting the third fewest tackles (20 per game).
* The Cowboys' three wins this season is currently their second worst in club history, only better than their two wins in 1995.
* The Dragons' past seven matches have been decided by eight points or less.
Australian Associated Press
