NRL grand final: Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan thought he broke nose in fit of rage

SHARKS coach Shane Flanagan feared he broke his nose during a moment of rage in Cronulla’s epic grand final defeat of the Storm.

SHARKS coach Shane Flanagan feared he broke his nose during a moment of rage in Cronulla’s epic grand final defeat of the Storm.

Flanagan’s nose was partially swollen as he celebrated Cronulla’s 14-12 title triumph, later revealing he was worse for wear after losing his cool in the coaching box.

When Melbourne prop Jesse Bromwich barged over in the 50th minute to whittle Cronulla’s lead to 8-6, Flanagan lashed out, throwing his headset as the Storm mounted a fierce fightback.

“I thought I broke my nose,” Flanagan said with a sheepish grin as he patted his hooter.

“I threw the radio set and it got me in the nose.

“When Bromwich scored, I threw the headset down on the table and it bounced back up and hit me in the face.”

Paul Gallen and Shane Flanagan (R) celebrate grand final victory.

The pain of that blow will never cut as deep as the ASADA doping scandal of 2013, which threatened Cronulla’s existence and saw Flanagan hit with a 12-month suspension.

But Flanagan refused to walk away and admits he is a better coach after returning from the toughest period of his career.

“I am probably a better NRL head coach because of that (the supplements scandal),” said Flanagan, the shimmering premiership ring sitting on the fourth finger of his right hand.

“People have to report to me and in 2012, I was just a footy coach. I had to learn chains of command and accountability. Sport has changed. You can’t just be a footy coach anymore.

“We all know what happened and we couldn’t control it. It could have been handled better by everyone, from the Federal Government to ASADA to the NRL to our club and individuals in our joint.

“The blackest day in Australian sport ... who paid the price? It makes this (premiership win) even more rewarding. I know what sort of character I am and I don’t want anything to do with that stuff.”

Flanagan spoke of his relief at Cronulla’s class of 2016 clinching the club’s maiden title to break a 49-year premiership drought.

“I do think it was a monkey on our back,” he said.

“I reckon it’s a real relief for the ex-players and the old saying we’ve never won a competition. We’ve put that to bed now.

“We’ve had the Gavin Millers, Steve Rogers and Andrew Ettingshausens ... we’ve had a lot of great players play for our club and it shows you how hard it is to win a competition.

“I wanted to do some video work on grand final moments from the Sharks and Gal isn’t one to look too far back, but we had some great teams.

“I don’t want to look at the last 60 seconds of the game but I will at some stage. How Melbourne didn’t score and how we stopped them scoring is amazing.

“It resembles what this group is about, we scrambled and never gave in.

“To win that first premiership for this club is a great feeling.”