What’s the Buzz: Newcastle Knights’ bid for Shane Flanagan
Newcastle officials want to put more support around coach Adam O’Brien, writes Phil Rothfield.
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The Newcastle Knights are considering a shock approach to banned coach Shane Flanagan.
The story may be denied but is 100 per cent true.
Sources have revealed officials want to put more support around coach Adam O’Brien who has struggled this year with only four wins from 11 games.
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This is a team most experts predicted would play finals footy. However injuries to star players Kalyn Ponga and Mitchell Pearce, combined with big names out of form and poor recruitment, has left O’Brien in a vulnerable position.
The fact he signed a two-year contract extension not long ago doesn’t matter. There are payout clauses like with previous coach Nathan Brown.
The coaching staff has been part of the review that CEO Phil Gardner recently ordered.
The Knights board is seriously looking at Flanagan, who is available to coach again at the end of the season.
It would start with him being a senior assistant but could become a head coaching role if things don’t improve.
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There is a feeling in Newcastle that O’Brien has often struggled to contain his emotions. It’s been picked up so many times by the TV cameras.
Flanagan has been sidelined for two years since the Cronulla Sharks salary cap scandal that exposed evidence that, while suspended, he was exchanging work emails with the club.
Flanagan is by far the best credentialed coach without a job. He won the 2016 premiership for the Sharks on a roster he built himself — including the signings of Michael Ennis, Luke Lewis, Ben Barba and Andrew Fifita.
He is now working as a commentator for Fox Sports and 2GB, but he is desperate to get back into NRL coaching.
It’s interesting that the Newcastle move for Flanagan has come from board level.
Gardner is regarded as one of Australia’s best licensed club bosses who has built the Wests brand in Newcastle into an entertainment/poker machine empire.
However his league nous and knowledge is lacking, hence the involvement of footy-smart advisers on the Newcastle board.
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Originally published as What’s the Buzz: Newcastle Knights’ bid for Shane Flanagan
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