Shane Flanagan opens up on his plan to turn the Dragons into a powerhouse
Shane Flanagan has already kickstarted St George Illawarra’s signing spree for 2024 and there’s more to come as he reveals his Dragons rebuild plan to DAVID RICCIO.
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Shane Flanagan got home from the Sea Eagles end-of-season presentation around midnight last Monday.
He closed the door on his job for the past 12 months as Manly assistant coach, waking the next morning for Day 1 as the head coach of St George-Illawarra.
By 6am Tuesday, Flanagan was sitting inside WIN Stadium Wollongong, plotting his rebuild of the historic Red V.
For the first time in five years, Flanagan is an NRL head coach again. The magnitude of the job poses the question why he would want to be back at all?
Flanagan takes over a football club that finished 16th of 17 teams in 2023 - the worst season in St George Illawarra’s history.
A football club that has made the finals just twice in 12 years. A football club only supercoach Wayne Bennett could take to a premiership.
This is the story of Flanagan’s plan to not only lift the Dragons off the canvas, but turn them into a powerhouse.
BRAND POWER
“When I was younger, the Dragons were the biggest brand in the game,” Flanagan told this column.
“South Sydney were obviously up there also. But as far as the most iconic sporting brand in the country, the Red V of the Dragons were it.
“I want us to get back to being the No.1 sporting organisation in the country.
“I’m not going to go down the path of differentiating between St George or Illawarra, we are simply the Dragons.
“We can be just as big in Queensland, Victoria, and every part of NSW. We can be a brand that is revered by the sporting public.
“When I started (as head coach) at the Sharks in 2010, the Dragons won the premiership that year. The Sharks were always the little brother, but now the tables have been flipped.
“The Sharks have played finals footy every year. And the Dragons haven‘t.
“I wanted the Sharks to become as consistent as the Melbourne Storm when it came to being a contender every year. The goal is no different to the Dragons and I believe we can get there.
“Every year I want to be playing finals. I want us to be a high-achieving club. We’ve got the support, we just need to get it right on the footy field.’’
HUNTING SEASON
Will Ben Hunt — who had a release request rejected by the club in June — be at the club in 2024?
“Depending on Ben’s representative football commitments, he’ll be at pre-season training, most likely mid-December,’’ Flanagan confirmed.
“If he somehow misses the rep arena, he’ll be back mid-November.
“I talk to Ben weekly. There were some issues Ben had with the club which we’ve ironed out. The only issue from a football perspective he had was that we weren’t winning.
“I understand he’s a winner. We’re aligned in that belief. I need him here. I want him here. He’s our halfback. I need to put some good players around him next season and then even more the year after.’’
RECRUITMENT
So far, Flanagan has signed hard-running Rabbitohs forward Hame Sele and of course, his son Kyle from the Bulldogs, who brings value as a capable half or hooker.
“I still want to get four or five players for next season,” Flanagan said. “And then come November 1, I‘ll go really hard again for 2025.
“There’s players I’m talking to for 2025 that are big ones for us. They are elite players.
“You need Origin and rep players in your side and that’s our intent. But so too, is developing Origin players of our own, like we did with Jack Bird and Valentine Holmes at Cronulla.’’
On coaching his son Kyle, Flanagan said: “I’m excited. We‘d tried to get a couple of other utilities to the club and it just didn’t work out.
“I needed someone like Kyle, who has played 80 first-grade games. I know what I’m going to get out of him. If he’s not the best trainer there, he’ll be close to it.
“He’ll set some examples and I know I’ll get the best out of him.
“Communication-wise it will be easy. There’s no tough conversation there. Whether he plays hooker or in the halves, his off-season will determine that.’’
WELL PLANNED
The Dragons are in talks for a new head of recruitment of which will be charged with a strategy Flanagan says is key to the club’s sustained success.
“Recruitment and retention has been ad hoc for too long here,” Flanagan said.
“It’s a case of constantly looking for a new player to replace a player that the new coach wants. That’s no one individual’s fault, it’s merely a by-product of the constant change of coaches.
“Every coach wants their type of player and I’m no different.
“But what I want to do is have a long-term vision, a clear plan. When we get our roster right, I only want to be rolling over, like Penrith do, two or three players every year.
“I want to know what the majority of our side looks like in 2025, 2026, so that we’re always only ever adding small touches of quality.’’
ATTITUDE
Flanagan’s coaching is based on hard work. And he leads it. He famously helped buy a boxing ring on eBay for the Sharks gym when they were strapped for cash.
Last Friday, the Dragons head coach was walking the aisles at Officeworks looking for a certain set of desks he wanted to add to the team meeting room.
“When the team walks in for pre-season training, they will walk into a new gym area, new faces and a new beginning,” Flanagan said.
“We’re going to be super fit, fast and powerful because we have two premiership-proven high performance leaders (in Andrew Gray and Dan Lawson).
“We’re going to be ruthless, tough and hard to beat. If we have to win by two-points, so be it. Then once we add some high-level skill, like we did at Cronulla with Ben Barba and James Maloney, we will still have our tough DNA with a sprinkling of x-factor.’’
TOUGH TYRELL
Flanagan has confirmed previously he intends to give centre Zac Lomax a chance to train at fullback in the pre-season.
But what he really hopes is to add a hardened layer of resilience into outstanding young fullback Tyrell Sloan.
“I’ve spoken to Tyrell. My coaching style, my personality will help him get to where he needs to be.
“I’m going to invest a lot more of my own time in Tyrell and also add programs where on a Wednesday he’ll go and do boxing or wrestling.
“We’ve got a plan to expose him to some tough training.
“Ricky Stuart did it with Jamie Soward and Craig Wing back in the day. It’s similar to some original questions over Will Kennedy’s toughness. Now look at him go, he’s come through the other side and is a first-class player.
“Our aim is to add new strings to Tyrell‘s bow through some tough training. In rugby league you have to go to dark places and know that you can come out of them. That’s the experience Tyrell will gain this pre-season.’’
LEGENDS
Flanagan is calling it the ‘Dragons Way’; a statement and testimony in the way you walk, talk, train and play if you represent the Dragons.
“I need to make sure our current players understand the history of the club,” Flanagan said.
“I will make sure that the dressing room is open to the past players, so too is training. We need a massive reconnection with all parts of our business. We are all Dragons.
“We will all have one cause to have the footy team winning. And that has already begun even without me there. At the presentation night last week, Michael Weyman and Paul McGregor turned up, which I think is fantastic.”
LEADERSHIP
If captain Hunt were ever unavailable this season, the Dragons found themselves struggling to name a replacement captain. Leadership is an issue that Flanagan is eager to replenish.
“Benny has been a bit of a lone soldier for a while. When Jack de Belin was out, or Ben for that matter, the depth of leadership was lacking,” Flanagan said.
“In the process of doing exit reviews with the players on Tuesday, I’ve learned I need to expose them to how to lead.
“Gone are the days in sport where your best player is the automatic captain. I’m not sure what leadership structure I’ll have, but it could be three leaders. It could be one or two.
“I need to find out their strengths and weaknesses, and show them how I want them to lead, not just at training, but in meetings and on the field, at restaurants, hotels and in the community. There’s so many layers to leadership which I need to expose these boys to.’’
SCRUTINY
Flanagan knows he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Yet even his harshest critics would recognise his willingness to learn from past mistakes, re-establish himself over the course of a long five years by leaving the game to work as a tradesman, help coach a junior league team, commentate with Fox Sports and work as an assistant coach, before earning his job ahead with the Dragons.
Still, the question remains, why would he ever want to return to the intense and brutal spotlight of the NRL?
“The time away has allowed me to be way better prepared to run a team,” Flanagan said.
“My time as an assistant coach has allowed me to sit back and view things in a different light.
“When you get older, you also calm down a bit. I was always wanting things quickly. Now I realise it takes time and it’s a process.
“I’m probably more passionate about having success than ever before.
“My passion is to win another competition. I want to get the Dragons back into the eight, then top four and not just once, but every year.”
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