NRL 2021: Bulldogs pack determined to protect Kyle Flanagan in wake of rough trial treatment

After coping heavy punishment in the trial win over the Sharks, new halfback Kyle Flanagan would be relieved to hear the Bulldogs pack ‘will look after him on the field’.

New Canterbury halfback Kyle Flanagan has been promised immediate and fierce on-field protection from his Bulldogs pack after Cronulla last week attempted to “take his head off.”

Flanagan came in for heavy attention against his former club during a trial match last Saturday, prompting Bulldogs forward Adam Elliott to declare he would guard his No.7.

“Wade Graham was trying to take my head off on the weekend,” Flanagan said.

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Kyle Flanagan came under plenty of pressure against the Sharks.

Elliott said the former Rooster had a right to know his forwards “had his back.”

“If I was playing half, I would want to know I could trust my back-rower and that he was going to turn up when the tough stuff was ready,” Elliott said.

“’Flano’ is certainly aware that I’m going to be looking after him out on the field. A lot of the boys are going to.”

Before signing with Canterbury, former Cronulla captain Paul Gallen urged his old club to make a play for Flanagan, but that didn’t prevent him from copping some heavy treatement against the Sharks.

“You know what? You have to take a bit of pride in your forwards and in your pack, that you’re not going to let people target (them) and to (make it) hard to target those players because when the coin flips and we’ve got the footy, we want him to be fresh and we want him to be on the front foot,” Elliott said.

Flanagan has plenty riding on his shoulders this season.

“You want them (the halves) looking forward to playing with you each week and to have that confidence in you that they will be protected and that we’ll have a good partnership together.

“A halfback is someone you hope to play next to for a very long time and I want him on my side. There’s a lot of growth that can be done amongst our squad at the moment when it comes to playing with each other, learning each other strengths and playing as a team.

“And I think part of that is knowing you can trust your teammates, particularly as a halfback. I think anyone that’s going to be an on-ball half in the comp this year, particularly with how fast it’s going to be, teams will try and send as much traffic as they can at those players.

“The way that you control that is by making sure you get your even share of possession, you complete and you defend well as a unit. It’s your halfback and that’s the way the game has been for a very long time.”

Flanagan, who arrived at Belmore after one year at the Sydney Roosters, was clearly relieved to hear Elliott’s comments.

Kyle Flanagan gets a kick away.

And then feels the brunt of a heavy hit.

“I appreciate (Elliott’s on-field protection). I feel very comfortable in this football team and hearing that is pretty special,” Flanagan said.

“I’m directing them around the field. It goes both ways. They’ve got turn up when I’m trying to put them through a hole and they’ve got to have my back as well.

“The first day I walked in here I really wanted to earn the respect of the senior players. That started in the dressing room.

“The big boys in the dressing room test you out a bit, how tough you are and what you’re made of. I like to pride myself on that. I feel really free and confident.”

Flanagan has settled nicely at Canterbury under coach Trent Barrett and is preparing to re-establish himself after a mixed season at Bondi.

He looks calm, composed and ready.

Wade Graham gave Kyle Flanagan some extra attention. Picture: Matt Blyth/Getty Images

“Kyle has been really confident, he’s honed, the move from the Roosters, he hasn’t shied away from any of that, he’s fronted up when he needed to and he’s really bought in,” Elliott said.

“He has taken lot of accountability for the way we have trained and particularly how our attack has looked over the pre-season. Kyle is a lot tougher than I thought. As a back-rower that’s all you can ask of your halves.”

Flanagan described Barrett as “another Cooper Cronk to me.”

“We just did a review session and he doesn’t miss a thing,” Flanagan said. “He is so smart at how he looks at the game.”

The Bulldogs are Flanagan’s third club in as many seasons, after stints with the Sharks and Roosters.

Elliott’s love triangle fallout ‘sorted with teammates’

Canterbury forward Adam Elliott has spoken for the first time about his unsavoury love triangle drama with a former teammate, saying: “It’s a private matter — and I’d like to keep it that way.”

But he did admit to “dealing” with the drama with teammates.

Elliott was allegedly caught in a compromising position with the fiancée of ex-Bulldogs teammate, Michael Lichaa, during a late night out in late February.

Bulldogs forward Adam Elliott on Monday. Picture: Richard Dobson

While Elliott was ordered to undergo alcohol counselling, he avoided formal sanction from the Bulldogs and NRL.

Lichaa was charged with common assault, destroy or damage property and additional domestic violence charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

It was alleged Lichaa caught his fiancée, Kara Childerhouse, kissing Elliott.

Aside from being quoted in a sanctioned club statement, Elliott had not spoken publicly about the incident until a Bulldogs media conference on Monday at Belmore.

“Around the whole incident, it’s a private matter. I won’t delve into that. I dealt with it how I saw fit with my teammates early on in the piece,” Elliott said.

“The club has dealt with that. It’s a private matter and out of all due respect for everyone involved in that, I’d like to keep it that way.

“It was addressed in the statement released by the club.

“I’m really lucky that I’ve got a really supportive club, really supportive teammates and a good supportive system around me that I was able to focus on the job I’m here to do for the club.

Elliott had a point to prove against the Sharks in their trial. Picture: Matt Blyth/Getty Images

“I’m a Bulldogs man through and through – I love this place. If I can keep that in the forefront of my mind, that will remain my focus.

“We have been able to put all our focus onto playing footy together and supporting each other as a team moving forward. I’m doing my best to stay focused and stay in the now.”

Asked had the drama impacted on the club’s pre-season preparations, Elliott said: “We all have a really good focus on round one right now and everyone turned up to the trial game (against Cronulla last Saturday) in really good stead and really clear on how we wanted to play and how we want to look as a team.

“And I feel that is the same moving forward for round one in Newcastle.”

Canterbury released a statement on February 20 stating Elliott would seek professional help for alcohol and his progress would be closely monitored.

It read: “The Bulldogs have conducted their own review and have decided that Adam will undertake professional help in regard to issues with alcohol, with the Bulldogs to provide full support including a strict monitoring process.”

Former Bulldogs hooker Michael Lichaa. Picture: AAP Image/David Neilson

In the statement, Elliott said: “I will be undertaking the necessary help that I require with appropriate measures and checks.”

Pressed on Monday whether he would make changes to his lifestyle, he said: “My statement addressed those last week.”

Elliott said he can now try and move forward and prepare for the forthcoming NRL season.

“It was great to pull the jersey on run out there,” Elliott said of the 16-12 trial win over Cronulla, in which he scored a barnstorming try while playing on the left edge.

“I haven’t played football for a while with the shoulder reconstruction last year. It was great to put 100 per cent of my focus into footy,” he said.

Canterbury’s Trent Barrett and his Bulldogs coaching team of David Furner, Craig Sandercock and David Tangata-Toa.. Picture: Bulldogs Digital

“More so than anything, it’s just been exciting to come in and the new staff here, the expertise they have all brought individually and then collectively as a group.

“They have worked really well together from day one and, if we buy into from a team’s point of view, they will definitely bring improvements our game, which, in turn, will bring results for the club.

“It will be very hard to change this place. It’s been around a long time and it’s a really proud club but ‘Baz’ (coach Trent Barrett) has definitely come in added to the expertise and professionalism. The change was going to bring excitement for us boys that have been here for a while.”