NRL 2025: Dragons coach Shane Flanagan opens up on Ben Hunt’s exit
St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan has opened up on Ben Hunt’s exit, addressing reports of a toxic fallout with the former Dragons halfback.
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Shane Flanagan insists the Dragons can fight back from the Ben Hunt contract firestorm as he outlined his blueprint to stabilise St George Illawarra with a drought-breaking premiership.
In a wide-ranging interview with this masthead, Flanagan addressed reports of a toxic fallout with Hunt and backed his halfback replacement, Souths recruit Lachlan Ilias, to fire in the No.7 jumper this season.
Bookmakers have installed the Dragons and Dolphins as favourites for the wooden spoon this season, but Flanagan is determined to prove the doubters wrong – just as he did at derby rivals the Sharks.
Flanagan is pragmatic about the state of the Dragons, but is confident an aggressive off-season recruitment drive can help the Red V snap a seven-year absence from the finals.
And the premiership coach believes the club can move on swiftly and emphatically from the controversial exit of Hunt, who has joined the Broncos after two years of contractual angst with the Dragons.
“I don’t feel the pressure,” Flanagan said.
“I feel the excitement of bringing a premiership here.”
FAREWELL SKIPPER
Upon his arrival as Dragons coach last year, Flanagan tried to keep Hunt.
The club’s $6 million man was sick of political drama, alleged broken promises and front-office instability and wanted out.
Flanagan hoped he could provide a clear path to premiership glory. Three months ago, he conceded defeat, broking a release for Hunt to start afresh at the Broncos in 2025.
“It just didn’t work out,” the Dragons coach says.
“When I first got the job, Ben was agitating to get out because ‘Hook’ (former coach Anthony Griffin) had left and he was good mates with him.
“He tried really hard the year I had him, but he never really settled after that.
“In the end, he said, ‘I think I want to go home’. We can’t have our captain and our leader not wanting to be here, so it was an easy decision for me to let Ben go.
“It’s hard to make someone love you. It really is. Sometimes you try and make it work and I really believe Ben genuinely tried. I believe he had a really good season for us last year and I will never ever criticise him for not having a crack.
“Unfortunately, it turned pear-shaped at the end of the season – but that wasn’t solely on Ben.
“People will always look for cracks and the reason why he left, but the truth is it wasn’t a perfect marriage and it was best for Ben to go.
“There was no point in me trying to convince him. At some point he had to want to be there and if someone doesn’t want to be there, maybe they aren’t the right fit.
“I’ve seen Ben since and we get on fine. There’s no hard feelings from my perspective. He has moved on and we’ve moved on.”
BRONCO BEN
After the Dragons’ 44-40 loss to the Eels in the penultimate round last season, dressing-room cameras zoomed-in on Hunt and Flanagan having a robust discussion.
It looked like the pair were at loggerheads.
Flanagan detailed the conversation and rubbished suggestions of a rift, even claiming Hunt could be the signing that helps the Broncos break their 19-year premiership drought this season.
“Benny and myself had a heap of honest discussions,” he said.
“People talk about that moment, it was at Parramatta Stadium and we lost 44-40, it was a ridiculous game really with that scoreline.
“Ben made a few tactical decisions. We had a discussion about sticking to our game plan.
“It was a conversation about management of a game which all coaches and playmakers have. We never had an argument or a blue during the season.
“It was a candid chat between captain and halfback. It was an educational discussion.
“Ben was never a nasty person. I always asked him his opinions and valued them.
“In hindsight, he was happiest at the Dragons when he had guys like ‘Hook’, Josh McGuire and (Andrew) McCullough.
“He had his Broncos mates at the Dragons and they had all left, which just left Ben.
“I actually think the Broncos are in for a good year with Ben there.
“Michael Maguire (new coach) will be good for them, he is a very disciplined coach and I think Ben will do well there.
“They have class across the park. They have strike players, good outside backs in Kotoni Staggs and with their best structure, attitude and depth, they will be hard to beat.”
RED V REVIVAL
How time flies. It’s almost the 10-year anniversary since Flanagan made history, delivering the Sharks’ maiden premiership in 2016 to break Cronulla’s 50-year premiership hoodoo.
Almost a decade on, Flanagan has a title itch to scratch.
Once the most dominant force in world sport in the 1950s and ‘60s, the Dragons haven’t won a premiership since 2010. Flanagan knows the joint-venture club is in a rebuilding phase but believes he has the coaching expertise to orchestrate a Cronulla-style title fairytale.
“Time really has flown,” he says of Cronulla’s premiership win.
“I still run into ‘Gal’ (his former Sharks captain Paul Gallen) and Wade (Graham) in the Shire and they say, ‘Can you believe it’s nearly 10 years since we won the comp’.
“Those memories drive me, 100 per cent.
“It was just a special group and I was so lucky to have that team.
“That team was one of the greatest in Sharks history and to win 16 in a row that year, it was just a dream run and I wish I could do the journey all over again.
“That’s the feeling I want here.
“It takes a lot of things to come together and if you knew how to do it (win a premiership), you would do it every year, but it’s very hard to get that formula right.
“I did it once … and I want to do it again.”
COACHING HIS SON
It’s one of the most complex dynamics in elite sport – a father coaching his own flesh and blood.
The cries of nepotism hover like a dark cloud whenever a father-son combination emerges in the NRL. Billy Walters battled the optics of perceived favouritism at the Broncos under former coach Kevin. Ivan Cleary and Nathan are immune because the Panthers halfback is the NRL’s No.1 player. Kyle Flanagan was spat out of the Roosters and Bulldogs before reuniting with his dad at the Red V last season.
The stigma doesn’t bother Shane, who offers a candid critique of his son’s abilities.
“I don’t know if Kyle will be an elite playmaker,” he says.
“To be honest, I was more anxious about watching Kyle when he was at the Bulldogs.
“I felt comfortable at the Roosters because he was in a great football team there, but I would worry about him at the Bulldogs.
“One thing I will say is that Kyle is an elite competitor. He kicks well and defensively, if you ask our defensive coaches, he is one of the top three or four defensive halves in the comp.
“He will never break teams open with his attacking game, but I just need him to be consistent.
“He will never be an elite game-breaker, but he can be elite in consistency. I know what I get with Kyle. He is the ultimate competitor and that’s just as important.”
PROJECT ILIAS
Kyle Flanagan’s new halves partner, Ilias, arrives at the Dragons with his career at the crossroads.
Unwanted by Souths, and on the comeback trail from a serious leg injury, the jury is out on whether Ilias can be Hunt’s long-term successor at halfback.
But the Dragons mentor is backing the 24-year-old to defy his critics and forge a successful scrumbase union with Flanagan Jr.
“I believe in Lachy,” Flanagan said.
“I met with Braith (Anasta, Ilias’ manager) last year and at that point, I didn’t know Ben Hunt would be leaving, but I felt we needed another back-up half.
“Then when Ben left we had to act quickly and see what was on the market. Lachy was the best on the market and we were pretty lucky to get him at the time.
“He is still only a young half, but he got Souths to a grand-final qualifier. He has played with guys like Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker and he is fit and healthy now.
“I’m not pressuring Lachy too much early because he has been out for a while with injury. But he will start the year at seven and I believe he will work well with Kyle.
“He is a good defender and has a good strong kicking game, so he will get better as the year goes on.”
TRIPLE THREAT
Flanagan believes the addition of Parramatta’s former ‘King’ Clint Gutherson, Souths Origin hooker Damien Cook and Cowboys ace Valentine Holmes, with whom he won a title at Cronulla, puts the Dragons in finals contention.
“’Gutho’ will be all about attitude, energy and organising our defensive line,” he said.
“He can save tries and get our ‘line org’ right.
“We will have him on the end of shape as well and we’re working on that, but I think his influence on the group is going to make a huge difference.
“’Cooky’ will be great for us around the rucks. We haven’t had that creative dummy-half. “Jacob Liddle passes well but doesn’t have the vision of Cooky, but I now feel comfortable about our forwards getting rolling with Cooky and his running game.
“We will look totally different at dummy-half and at the back.
“I’m happy to have Val on board. He can be a real X-factor for us. He is at a mature part of his career where he knows his footy.
“He is about to have another baby and is comfortable living in the Shire, he has been here before when the Sharks won the comp.
“I thought he would play at the Cowboys forever and a day, but things change quickly and Val is comfortable now with the move.”
MARKET FORCES
The Dragons remain in the market to bolster their front-row stocks.
The club was close to securing Matt Lodge before a one-year, $300,000 transfer fell through, leaving Flanagan open to signing Cronulla cult hero Tom Hazelton on a three-year, $1.3 million deal.
“We’re still in the market and we probably need to jag a prop,” he said.
“I was definitely keen to put Matt in our top 30, but it was a cap management thing.
“I understood his position. We did a medical on the Friday and then he agreed to a one-year deal, but over the weekend it went bums up, because he thought about moving down and being away from his family.
“We couldn’t do more than a one-year deal so it was best to walk away from it.
“I would like to get Hazelton. He would be outstanding for us, but he’s not in the league of a Payne Haas, that type of Origin and Australian representative front-rower. We would like to get Tom and if we do, he will be part of the jigsaw puzzle.
“There’s no excuses for last year, we just didn’t have that spark at the end and we probably needed a few touches of class to get us to the finals.
“That’s where a superstar player like Kalyn Ponga or Reece Walsh can make a difference and win you a few close games.
“But I’m really happy with the squad I’ve got. We are a long way ahead of last year without a doubt.”
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Originally published as NRL 2025: Dragons coach Shane Flanagan opens up on Ben Hunt’s exit
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