Sport Confidential: Shane Flanagan could join Wests Tigers coaching staff
Michael Maguire avoided the axe but Wests Tigers are set for a coaching shake-up that could see another premiership heavweight join the club.
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Cronulla premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan has emerged as a potential addition to Michael Maguire’s coaching staff at the Wests Tigers.
It is understood Flanagan is keen to return to the coaching ranks and will put up his hand to assist Maguire, who is on the lookout for a new member of his staff.
Flanagan has made no secret of his plans to step back into a full-time coaching role having spent this season in the commentary box with Fox League and 2GB.
The experienced mentor headlines a host of coaches already linked to the role, including Dean Pay, Brett White, David Furner and Shaun Wane.
Flanagan worked as an assistant last year at the Dragons in what was his first coaching position since leaving the Sharks at the end of 2018. He initially started as the attack coach but moved onto looking after the defensive side of the team.
The Tigers are on the lookout for a defensive specialist after Maguire’s assistant Wayne Collins was the big casualty of the Tigers’ highly publicised review.
Maguire will have a say into who he appoints but the decision will be left to the club’s football committee. Under the revised structure at the Tigers, Maguire has agreed to forego some of his autonomy in return for the club taking a more collaborative approach to their recruitment of his offsiders.
COOK REVEALS WHY HE JOINED RABBITOHS
Damien Cook took a moment to reflect at training. The Rabbitohs hooker has only ever known Adam Reynolds as his halfback after joining the club in 2016. Cook has started to think about Reynolds knowing his time will come to an end with a loss on Friday night.
“I was thinking we didn’t have that many sessions left,” Cook said of Reynolds, who will join the Broncos next season.
“He is well aware that he was the main reason I came to Souths.
“I knew of him through friends but I’d never really spoken to him. I love watched him and his kicking game. He is always someone I wanted to play alongside.”
CAP CRUNCH COULD COST PANTHERS TWO STARS
Penrith’s salary cap is about to hit hard with fears two of the club’s most promising players could be forced out at season’s end.
Rival clubs are set to pounce and are circling Charlie Staines and young forward Spencer Leniu who have come onto their radars after they dipped out of Penrith’s top 17.
The Panthers are treading a salary cap tightrope heading into next season and beyond with the issue set to ignite at the end of their season. The club has been a victim of its own success.
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According to the NRL website, the Panthers have just 23 players contracted for next year but it is understood Tyrone May and Jaeman Salmon have agreed to new deals.
With five spots to fill, they may be forced to squeeze some players out.
Staines and Leniu are on deals worth about $300,000 each.
Viliame Kikau’s future could also come into the spotlight with the club unlikely to be in a position to extend him when his deal expires at the end of next year.
Last year they dumped fan favourite Josh Mansour after the grand final to make way for Staines.
Staines and Leniu rejected rich offers from the Bulldogs last year to recommit to the Panthers until the end of 2023.
Staines has struggled this year after bursting onto the scene last year, scoring six tries in two games.
The Panthers are already losing Matt Burton, Brent Naden and Kurt Capewell at season’s end, while Tevita Pangai Jnr will also leave after his short-stint at the club.
WALKER’S SELFLESS CALL
It was the selfless call that could ultimately cost Cody Walker the Dally M Medal.
Walker was asked by South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett to rest in the final round match against St George Illawarra in order to be fresh for their finals campaign.
In his previous four games against the Dragons, Walker had polled three Dally M points each time, but didn’t hesitate to sit out in the last round.
It paid dividends, with Walker’s replacement Benji Marshall stepping up to win the three points in the 20-16 win, and then Walker helping Souths to the upset victory over Penrith in the first round of the finals.
But had Walker played against the Dragons, he would have been favoured to reap some points as he battles Manly’s superstar Tom Trbojevic for league’s ultimate individual prize.
Walker had been docked three points from a suspension earlier in the season, while Trbojevic has produced one of the great streaks of form to be favourite for the Dally M medal to be announced on Monday.
Meanwhile, Anthony Milford’s recent off-field drama may have opened the door for Marshall to run around for one more year.
Marshall has refused to confirm whether he will retire after this season, but has told those close to him he is capable of playing on in 2022.
That dream seemed to have been shattered at South Sydney at least, when the Rabbitohs signed out-of-favour Brisbane playmaker Milford.
However, Milford is now due in court in Brisbane on October 20, having been charged with three counts of assault following a rowdy evening last weekend.
Two women are said to be among the alleged victims of Milford.
The Rabbits will be keeping a close eye on his legal proceedings and working out if they want to honour their contract should his court case extend into next year.
TSZYU’S BIG TEST
Tim Tszyu’s biggest fight against an international rival has been confirmed for the Gold Coast.
Tszyu fights Japan’s No.7 ranked WBO contender Takeshi Inoue at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on November 17.
Inoue is expected to base most of his camp in Japan before arriving in Queensland in late October.
Tszyu, the WBO No.1 mandatory contender for super-welterweight champion Brian Castano, is putting his ranking and world title shot on the line against Inoue, whose only defeat has come to undefeated middleweight champion Jaime Munguia and has been talking confidently of taking out Australia’s best fighter.
KIWI STAR ON HUNI’S HITLIST
Being forced out of the boxing ring due to hand surgery has only made Australian heavyweight champion Justis Huni hungrier for action in 2022, with a staggering seven professional fights planned.
These bouts will have to fit around Huni’s tilt at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next July, after he declared his intention to compete for the gold medal there.
Huni’s promoter Dean Lonergan has been negotiating with Kiwi star Junior Fa for a showdown, but it seems that fight would be second for Huni, who is likely to fight in January or February against another opponent yet to be determined.
“Justis will fight seven times next year as well as going to the Commonwealth Games,” Lonergan said. “He will have four fights before he goes to the Games, and Junior Fa is top of that list. We’re in the middle of discussions with four to five other fighters who are all unbeaten.”
DCE KEEPS THE FAITH
Daly Cherry-Evans knows first-hand the influence of Wayne Bennett. Cherry-Evans has only played under Bennett once – last year when they both led Queensland to a shock series victory.
While the Maroons were labelled as the worst team ever, Manly were predicted by some to finish with the club’s first wooden spoon after an 0-4 start.
“I’m aware of the great coach he is and what he is going to do for the team,” Cherry-Evans said. “I wouldn’t have compared the Manly team to the Origin side last year because I always felt we are a good side.
“It would only be people calling us the worst team in the competition that you could make that comparison. Even (after the poor start) I felt like we had a more than capable team.”
WALLABY STAYS LOYAL TO BRUMBIES
Australian rugby fans were pleased to hear rising star Len Ikitau re-signed with the Wallabies and Brumbies for a further two years earlier this week, but the centre did weigh up a move to a different Super Rugby franchise.
It can be revealed that the Melbourne Rebels came hard for Ikitau with a bigger financial offer, but he chose to stay loyal to his Canberra team.
Ikitau has reaped the benefits of the Brumbies’ strong rugby program and has made the Wallabies No.13 jersey his own so far in The Rugby Championship.
He will be a major part of the Wallabies’ 2023 World Cup campaign.
RUGBY LEAGUE GOLD
Rugby league musical satirist, Denis Carnahan – of ‘That’s in Queensland’ fame – is taking his hit show online on Wednesday night.
Carnahan usually tours around the country playing ‘Rugby League — The Musical’ but Covid-19 restrictions have put that on the backburner. Instead, he will celebrate grand final week by piecing together the free event on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.
“Before every season, I wonder if I’m going to run out of new material for the show, but every week rugby league throws up more pantomime and drama,” Carnahan said.
“The year started with Cam Smith retiring the day before the season started, then there was Joseph Suaalii-gate, George Williams-gate, Barbecue-gate, The Half Back Merry-Go-Round, more recently The Wayne and Ivan Press Conference Smackdown, the crackdown, the lockdown, the Bunnies stranded on a Jet at Rockhampton Airport, all the fun of the Origin Circus.
“Even Wayne said after his press conference-off with Ivan — ‘it was good theatre wasn’t it? Got everybody pumped up a little bit?’”
Details: https://www.facebook.com/RugbyLeagueTheMusical
MARY THE BUILDER
How is Paul McGregor spending his time since being axed as St George Illawarra coach? The new NSW Blues assistant has got his builders licence and is set to work on his new home.
ATONI ON THE RISE
Renouf Atoni has gone from the doghouse to the penthouse after the ex-Bulldog signed a two-year deal to join the Roosters. Up-and-coming forward Naufahu Whyte, who made his debut this year, re-signed with the club until the end of 2024.
“Fahu is a hard worker who has bought into what it means to be a Rooster,” coach Trent Robinson said. “Renouf is a powerful ball-runner with great skills.”
ALL EYES ON
It’s prelim time baby. Can Wayne Bennett march into another grand final or will be it Des’s Sea Eagles? The Storm are the best team in the land and can they inflict more pain on the Panthers?
FLASHBACK
Ricky Stuart was announced as Crounlla coach on this day 15 years ago. Stuart beat a field that included Brian Noble, David Waite, Graham Lowe and Adrian Lam for the Sharks job. Shane Flanagan was mentioned as a potential assistant to Stuart.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: ADAM DYKES
221 top grade games (183 Cronulla, 38 Parramatta) between 1995-2004
Adam Dykes was long earmarked as a future Sharks star. The local product always wanted to pull on the Cronulla jersey and started mixing with the first grade squad at 14.
Just four years later he was making his debut.
Dykes spent his first few years switching between the halves and hooker. He cemented himself as Cronulla’s No.6 in 1998. Dykes won Dally M five-eighth of the year and was just pipped for the overall award by teammate Preston Campbell in 2001.
“Preston, David Peachey and I – we stayed around after training for an hour each day and played one-on-one tough footy,” Dykes said. “I just loved playing with these guys and we clicked. We had errors in our game but we went for it. That was my best year.”
That season Dykes made the gut-wrenching decision to leave the Sharks for Parramatta. His last match was a preliminary final loss to Newcastle but he should have never played.
“In the last game of the regular season I tore cartilage in my knee,” Dykes said. “I had an arthroscope and was supposed to be out for six weeks. I had the operation on the Monday and went straight home and got in my neighbours pool and starting to kick. I called my doctor on Wednesday and told him I was going to play.
“I kept kicking in the pool all day every, day. I played and got man of the match. I played the following week and got man of the match.
“Heading into the preliminary final I woke up at 2am and my knee was three times the size and there was a massive red line up to my groin. I got a staph infection and I was in hospital for six days.
“I left hospital at 2.30pm on game day and was on the bus by 4pm. I remember sitting in the showers before running out because I couldn’t stand up. After the game I had welts and boils all over my body. They rushed me straight to hospital and I was there for another five or six days.”
Dykes ended up having six operations on his left knee. Chris Anderson’s arrival forced him out of the Sharks. It left him in tears when he made the decision to join Parramatta.
His Sutherland Shire neighbours bristled at the news. His local paper stopped being delivered.
“I regret I didn’t get the consistency and games at Parra,” Dykes said. “They were a great club and taught me a lot.”
Dykes cut short his three year stint at Parramatta by a season and rejoined Cronulla.
“We were playing a trial in Townsville and I had tears in my eyes when I put that jumper back on,” Dykes said. “It was a relief being home.”
Dykes played out three more seasons at Cronulla before having a year with Hull FC. He has his own property development and investment company and spent one season as Cronulla’s kicking coach in 2015.
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