NRL 2024: The junior stars Shane Flanagan is banking Dragons revival on
St George Illawarra’s 9000-strong junior nursery is getting a lesson in the ‘Dragons’ – but is there really enough talent to help turn the club’s fortunes around? We take an in-depth look.
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Welcome to Shane’s world.
A land that stretches 163 kilometres south of Wollongong and includes the St George district in Sydney’s south.
A land that doesn’t include the constellation of free agent stars new coach Shane Flanagan has bullishly chased after for the past three months.
But it’s a land where the best of St George Illawarra’s 9000-strong junior nursery are getting a lesson in the ‘Dragons way’, a philosophy being driven by the new mentor.
To the club’s other new Shane, recruitment and pathways manager Shane Millard, it’s an ‘indoctrination’ of sorts, where players as young as 14 learn what it means to be a Dragon.
“If you’re talking about creating DNA at the NRL level, that’s too late. It starts at the junior rep level,” Millard said.
“You can only do that if the coach heads up the program. He wants a certain standard to everything from physical development to skills, and even their character as people. He knows he’s got to hammer that message home at an early age.”
While pathways are designed to nurture the next crop of talent, for the Dragons it will also be the place its juniors will learn the commitment and character it takes to one day wear the Red V.
Flanagan is now at the forefront of this cultural revolution.
He’s only been behind the desk since October but has been busy filtering his message to junior coaches. Despite having his hands full rebuilding the NRL side, Flanagan hasn’t missed a single meeting where the progress of junior talents is discussed.
PATHWAYS PLAYERS
Eleven of the best players in St George-Illawarra’s pathways are the first cohort of juniors to get a taste of life under Flanagan this NRL pre-season.
The players identified as genuine NRL prospects hailed from both the Illawarra and St George regions.
It includes the likes of lock Hamish Stewart, 19, dynamic centre Hayden Buchanan, 17, Australian Schoolboys star Finau Latu, 18, rising halfback Kade Reed, 17 and exciting fullback Ben Rumble, 19.
“It’s a chance for them to get exposure to not only how Shane likes to do things but the intensity of what is expected of them at this level,” Millard said.
“They learn the right habits, whether they are resilient enough to cope with an NRL environment, whether their personalities fit. To see if they can cope with those demands and Shane gets to see it first hand.
“Someone like Ben, he’s a tall athletic fullback, and really emerged last year so it’s a reward for that but also a chance to nurture him even further.”
THE ACADEMY
While the pathways might be the cream of the crop, the club is committed to nurturing every junior in their system.
Every year, club legend and SG Ball coach Shaun Timmins, along with former NRL centre Willie Talau, hold a five-month Academy program for 100 players aged 14-19.
The academy runs in their respective regions with the entire cohort coming together once every month.
The combined day not only bridges the geographical gap between the players, but helps build a connection between the juniors that might one line-up in the same NRL side.
It’s also a chance to be in front of NRL coaching staff and players.
Just like in June, when Dragons star Blake Lawrie addressed academy players with a sobering message about struggles the club is facing at NRL level.
“The NRL is going through a rough patch. We’re coming dead last, unfortunately,” Lawrie told the youngsters.
“But I hope you boys will be able to progress in the next two, three years and build what we’re trying to build – that’s a top-four team year after year.”
Like Lawrie, Millard is confident the talent needed for sustained future success at the Dragons is already at their disposal.
“Development is everything. It’s the most crucial part of building success at the NRL level,” Millard said.
“You can’t go out every year and buy star players or buy premierships.
“With the Dolphins in the NRL and more clubs to join, the competition for the best kids will only ramp up. Clubs are now in a position where they really have no choice than to focus on development. Each crop of players coming through is better than the next.”
LEADING DRAGONS
As well as the focus on elite pathways, and the Academy program, the club also runs an initiative known as LEAD – Lead Educate Advance and Development.
It’s designed for players on the cusp of NRL training and runs one day a week from November to January, where they join the top squad during the pre-season.
Each LEAD program normally has around 15 players take part and right now includes rising prop Jacob Halangahu, who is expected to get his first NRL pre-season in 12 months time. Other exciting prospects like front-rower Cyrus Stanley-Traill, 19, who recently signed a three-year deal, are also in the program.
So too, Harold Matthews back-rower Leeroy Weatherall and SG Ball lock Daniel Meafou.
“It’s about exposure, when these kids come through to finally do an NRL summer, it won’t be a shock to them. They’re learning what it takes at that level,” Millard said.
JUNIOR RECRUITMENT
Despite boasting a nursery with over 9000 registered players, the club hasn’t historically developed ‘big, tall front rowers’.
To remedy that anomaly, the club recruited two of the brightest prop prospects in the country – Ipswich product Loko Pasifiki Tonga and Riverina junior Jet Liu.
Still only, 18, Tonga already tips the scales at 122 kilograms and stands at 194 centimetres.
“Sometimes you have to look externally and we’ve done it with Loko and Jet. Both are exceptional talents. The club believed they were the two best front rowers in their age group and neither have disappointed so far,” Millard said.
COACHING MATTERS
One of the first things Flanagan did when he took over was to install club legend Shaun Timmins as the Steelers SG Ball coach.
It’s seen as a crucial move in instilling the Red V DNA in up and coming talent.
“He understands how the club works, he’s passionate and he cares,” Millard said.
“It’s a battle to keep everyone. Other clubs know our nursery does produce decent kids so we’ve got to provide them with a world class pathway but also a sense of what it means to be here.
“When you have people like Timmo, a legend of the club, it becomes easier to do.”
Former player Kyle Stanley also runs the football program in the St George district.
FUTURE MOVES
Millard is newly installed into his role as recruitment and pathways manager, but already has his eye set on building a Dragons academy in New Zealand, which will be run by club legend Jason Nightingale.
“We have started preliminary talks to get that up and running in the next 12 months. We need to make sure we have the resources, things like having eyes and ears on the ground, they have somewhere to train and there are coaches that can go over there,” Millard said.
Another key priority is growing the number of local juniors in the NRL top 30, which currently sits at 48 per cent.
“Internally you talk about that. Ideally you want a production line and that’s why you need a strong pathways system where the conveyor belt keeps spitting out a Blake Laurie, Zac Lomax, a Tyrell Sloan and so on. It’s the reason the club is investing more money into the academy and programs to improve that.
“We want to up the ante.”
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