The NRL announce the punishment for Sharks coach Shane Flanagan
Shane Flanagan stands accused of lying and disrespect after the NRL sensationally deregistered the Cronulla coach and fined the Sharks a staggering $800,000 on Wednesday.
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Shane Flanagan stands accused of lying and disrespect after the NRL sensationally deregistered the Cronulla coach and fined the Sharks a staggering $800,000 on Wednesday.
The NRL revealed it had compelling evidence proving Flanagan regularly violated the strict terms surrounding his 12-month suspension following the club’s 2014 supplements scandal.
Forbidden from having any contact with the club, Flanagan began correspondence with Sharks officials just weeks into his year-long ban.
Between January and mid-August in 2014, Flanagan sent around 60 emails to the club involving recruitment, management and staff.
The NRL received a letter from Flanagan insisting he had not contacted any officials or players, and even met face-to-face with the NRL and gave assurances he had complied with all conditions of his suspension, which led to the league allowing him to return three months early.
“Fundamental to the rules and integrity of the game we work in is people being honest and truthful,” a clearly angry NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said in announcing the penalties. “It cuts to the very core and fabric of what the game’s rules stand for.”
The cash-strapped Sharks were hit with an $800,000 penalty — half of which was the $400,000 fine which was suspended from the 2014 peptides scandal, the other half because the club was aware Flanagan was dealing with Sharks officials, many of whom have now moved on from the club.
That has the potential to financially cripple the club.
Although the findings remain provisional, Flanagan has been stood down immediately and has until the end of January to respond to his breach notice.
Cronulla will appeal the fine, Sharks officials given until the end of this week to answer questions from the ARL Commission over the club’s solvency.
It was an “open secret” at Cronulla that Flanagan was still coaching while suspended.
Asked to describe Flanagan’s actions, Greenberg said: “Disrespectful.”
Inside NRL headquarters there is even a graph highlighting the exact days when Flanagan contacted the club, including a heavy cluster of activity around June.
“We have identified a substantial volume of material that supports the preliminary finding that Mr Flanagan was closely and constantly involved with the club while suspended,” Greenberg said.
The Daily Telegraph has been told people at all levels of Cronulla management — from football staff to executive management — knew of Flanagan’s contact with club officials.
Despite his denials, one email from Flanagan dated August 2014, asks that player agent Tyrone Smith be contacted about the possible pursuit of then Canberra five-eighth Blake Austin.
Nick Weeks, the NRL’s chief operating officer, said Flanagan’s internal emails “were constant and consistent” throughout the year the coach was banned.
Most emails involved recruitment, medical, staff or coaching. There was even approval from Flanagan about a press release.
The NRL spoke to a number of Sharks employees before reaching the decision, and they reluctantly admitted Flanagan was essentially still coaching while suspended.
One NRL official said: “He did everything but sit in the coach’s box.”
There is no time frame for when Flanagan can seek to be re-registered, or whether he would be successful.
At 53, he may just walk away from rugby league forever. Although there is no legal reason to prevent Flanagan coaching in England.
Greenberg said Flanagan was reminded repeatedly about the consequences of contacting the club while under suspension, insisting there was nothing “ambiguous” about the edict.
“The conditions that applied to Shane Flanagan’s 2014 suspension were crystal clear,” Greenberg said. “Shane and the club appeared to have ignored those conditions.
“It’s fair to say he had significant involvement with the club in a period where he shouldn’t have. The evidence in front of me is very strong. I have not reached these preliminary findings lightly. We cannot stand by and allow the game’s rules to be broken.”
Flanagan’s emails were located on computers seized by the NRL as part of the club’s ongoing salary cap investigation.
His mobile phone records were not part of the investigation.
Flanagan rejected an offer from Greenberg to discuss the issue face-to-face on Wednesday morning. Greenberg wouldn’t elaborate on the conversion but conceded: “It was short.”
Sharks chairman Dino Mezzatesta and chief executive Barry Russell were called into league headquarters on Wednesday and shown the evidence against Flanagan which, had the NRL known at the time, would not have allowed the coach to return to his duties in 2015.
The Sharks finished last in 2014, before recovering to finish sixth following Flanagan’s return before winning the club’s maiden premiership in 2016.
The NRL praised Russell’s self-reporting of his club’s salary cap indiscretions despite the move ultimately leading to Flanagan’s demise.
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Originally published as The NRL announce the punishment for Sharks coach Shane Flanagan
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