Dragons coach Shane Flanagan in bizarre swipe at former club

He went to great pains to insist it’s not about him, but Shane Flanagan had some stinging words for his former NRL club.

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan and the 2016 premiership. Photos: Getty Images/AAP

Controversial coach Shane Flanagan will forever hold an important place in the record books of the Cronulla Sharks.

The 58-year-old famously steered the NRL club to its first and only premiership back in 2016, beating the Melbourne Storm in the grand final.

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Flanagan of course is also remembered for being involved in the club’s supplements scandal that resulted in an initial 12-month suspension in 2013 before being indefinitely deregistered as a coach in 2018 for failing to uphold the conditions of that suspension.

After a period out of the game, Flanagan worked his way back as an assistant coach first at the Dragons, then with Manly, before returning as a senior head coach with St George Illawarra for 2024 and beyond.

While the Dragons suffered a heavy 60-18 thrashing to the Roosters on Anzac Day, the coach was keen to quickly highlight their next fixture, against the Sharks on Sunday, May 5.

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan and the 2016 premiership. Photos: Getty Images/AAP

In his post-match press conference, he labelled the Sharks a club he was “really interested in beating”.

“That’s been marked in the calendar for a while,” he added.

Flanagan then produced a bizarre response when asked if taking on his old side would be an emotional occasion.

“I won a comp there. I don’t think they’ve won one since, have they?” he asked.

“It’s not about me. I don’t care about me and I don’t want it to be about me.

“I want it to be about the team and the club.”

He then contradicted that statement by stating: “That was ages ago. I’ve moved on.

“I’ve coached at Manly … worked at Fox, worked on radio.

“I’ve had a good life.”

Flanagan with Paul Gallen during happier times at Cronulla. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)

The Dragons were heavily beaten on Thursday. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Perhaps Flanagan was focusing on next week so he could forget the horror show that had just unfolded before him against the Roosters.

“I couldn’t wait for it to finish, to be honest,” he admitted after the Roosters piled on 10 tries.

The performance came on the back of wins over the Tigers and Warriors and took the Dragons mentor by surprise.

“We’re terribly disappointed,” he said. “That’s not the Dragons. We saw last week what the Dragons can do.

“The challenge that this group has got is to grow and learn from this.

“We were poor, no excuses. We were sitting on our heels on the tryline.”

Any further comments from Flanagan in the build-up to his return to Shark Park will surely make for fascinating listening.

Originally published as Dragons coach Shane Flanagan in bizarre swipe at former club