Shane Flanagan won’t be allowed to take a head coach role until 2022
Former Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan can return to the NRL by the end of this year — but it won’t be the type of job he was hoping for. PLUS, Newcastle’s Stormy future.
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Shane Flanagan’s return as an NRL head coach won’t happen until at least the 2022 season.
But the Cronulla Sutherland premiership-winning coach will be allowed to return to the game as an assistant coach in December.
It is understood Flanagan will need to spend two seasons — 2020 and 2021 — as an assistant coach before he is given the green light to resume a head coaching role.
The Australian Rugby League Commission met on Thursday and part of the discussion centred around Flanagan’s future.
The NRL on Friday announced Flanagan would will be eligible for registration as an assistant coach for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
“I have spoken to Shane at length and he has expressed significant remorse andaccepted responsibility for his past actions and the detrimental impact they have had on the game,’’ NRL boss Todd Greenberg said.
“We have created a pathway for Shane to return to the coaching ranks. Today’s decision gives Shane an opportunity to be registered in the NRL.
“This is not a set and forget approach. Shane and any future club who employs him has numerous conditions which they must comply with and the Integrity Unit will continue to monitor his conduct over the next two seasons.”
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Flanagan has been linked with the St George Illawarra Dragons.
In December, Flanagan will have been sidelined from the game for 12 months.
But there will be strict conditions put on Flanagan to ensure he does not overstep the boundaries of an assistant coach and puts time into junior rugby league — something he did during his time at the Sharks.
“Today I met with the NRL and I both respect and accept the course of action they have taken,’’ Flanagan said.
“I look forward to returning to the coaching ranks, firstly as an assistant coach and hopefully one day a head coach again.”
Flanagan was banned from the NRL indefinitely after a salary cap audit of Cronulla found the coach breached the terms of his year-long suspension in 2014.
He recently wrote a 10-page apology letter to Greenberg and the commissioners.
UP THERE WITH TAYLA
ERIN Wardrop grew up following rugby league in the St George heartland, but is now responsible for another iconic image illustrating the athleticism of women’s AFL.
It was the 17-year-old’s first year of AFL, but it’s clear her seven years of gymnastics and five years of elite cheerleading have served her well for spoiling a contest.
Wardrope, from Peakhurst, was playing for St George in the Sydney grand finals at Blacktown International Sportspark, when she was perfectly captured in the premiership triumph at full stretch by photographer Nigel Owen.
It’s a picture to rival the shot taken of AFLW star Tayla Harris earlier this year, which has been immortalised as a statue.
“I started AFL this year after a friend recommended I join. I was always a league girl and didn’t know much about the sport but St George have been so welcoming and it straight away felt like a new family,” said Wardrop.
“I slowly picked up the rules and then it all became natural. I love the game because the sportsmanship is so amazing, and even when you stuff up the team are still there to help you back up!
“When you get the ball, have a run and get it on the boot it is just the best feeling. For us St George girls to play for the first time this year and win the premiership — there was no better way to start my first year.”
KNIGHTS HOPING TO STORM PREMIERSHIP
NEWCASTLE’S new coaching staff will certainly have a Melbourne Storm feel about it next season.
Incoming coach Adam O’Brien was inducted as a Storm life member before joining the Roosters this year. He has appointed former Storm players Rory Kostjasyn and Eric Smith to his Knights staff as development coaches.
Kostjasyn was already part of the Knights’ set-up but Smith will arrive in the pre-season.
Smith has been the Storm’s pathways coach and coached the club’s under-20s. He is also coach of the Sunshine Coast Falcons, who this weekend are playing for a spot in the Queensland Cup grand final.
They will join David Furner and Willie Peters, who are O’Brien’s NRL assistants. The pair worked at South Sydney last year. Scott Dureau will head up the Knights’ junior development.
JAPANESE FANS ENJOY DREAMTIME WITH KURTLEY
KURTLEY Beale’s new Japanese fan club got a sneak peek into one of his hidden talents when he played a didgeridoo for them.
As the Wallabies were about to depart their training base in Odawara to head to Sapporo for their opening World Cup match against Fiji, a fan arrived at the team bus with a didgeridoo and politely asked whether Beale would autograph it.
Beale not only agreed to sign his name, he slid open the bus window and began to play for the crowd, which lapped up the performance.
A few other players also tried to play but, unlike Beale, who is an accomplished performer, they couldn’t make it rumble.
LISTEN! Matty, Finchy and Kenty address “Pokies-gate” and the Broncos self-combustion, Joey Leilua’s fireworks mishap, and how Wayne Bennett and Des Hasler know exactly how to get the best out of their individuals. PLUS, the Roosters had a sleepover at the SCG?!
THE Warriors have emerged as the front-runners to land off-contract Cronulla backrower Kurt Capewell.
Capewell had been linked to a move to the Knights but it now seems the 26-year-old could be on the move to New Zealand.
The Sharks were keen to keep Capewell but were unable to move any space in their salary cap to do so.
SPOTTED I: Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy and NRL head of football Graeme Annesley in long conversation after the Storm were upset by the Raiders last weekend.
SPOTTED II: Wests Tigers utility Josh Reynolds at Canterbury Leagues Club … with some friends. No chance of a Belmore return, though.
BENNY HAS FINALS WOOD ON DES
DESPITE their long histories in the game, Wayne Bennett and Des Hasler have only met in two finals matches, and Bennett won out both times.
The first time was in 2010 when Bennett’s Dragons defeated Manly 28-0 in a first-versus-eighth clash.
Bennett did it again in 2013 when the Knights beat the Bulldogs 22-6 in a sixth-versus-seventh finals match. Overall, they have met 27 times, Bennett winning 16 of them.
MILLARD TO EARN HIS TIGER STRIPES
FORMER Roosters, Dragons, Western Suburbs and South Sydney player Shane Millard is expected to join Michael Maguire’s Wests Tigers coaching staff next year.
Millard, who played one season for the Magpies in 1997, has been coaching South Sydney’s Canterbury Cup side this year, and they take on Wentworthville in Saturday’s qualifying final at Kogarah Jubilee.
FLUKE, NOT FLICK, PASS
IT was probably the most important flick pass thrown in Canberra Raiders history.
But Joey Leilua said his pass which laid on John Bateman’s match-winning try against Melbourne last weekend was a fluke.
“It wasn’t what I was thinking of,” Leilua said. “I thought if I went wide, Jarrod (Croker) was not having a good time with the boot. I also thought the Storm were going to over-chase.”
Originally published as Shane Flanagan won’t be allowed to take a head coach role until 2022
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