‘Hopefully it gets done’: Flanagan confirms Dragons talks, responds to criticism of his past

Shane Flanagan has declared he can set up the Dragons for “long-term success” while hitting out at critics who say he should have a life ban from NRL head coaching.

Shane Flanagan for Sunday Buzz

Shane Flanagan believes he can set up the Dragons for “long-term success” and has responded to critics who believe he should have a life ban from NRL head coaching.

Flanagan has been shortlisted for the St George Illawarra job after Jason Ryles stunned the club by knocking back a $3.2 million four-year deal last week.

Flanagan coached the Sharks for eight seasons and won the 2016 premiership before being banned for his role in the club’s infamous supplements saga.

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The 57-year-old is allowed to be a NRL head coach again after serving his suspension and was a Dragons assistant under Paul McGregor in 2020.

He’s currently an assistant at Manly under Anthony Seibold who told foxsports.com.au he won’t stop Flanagan from leaving for a head coaching role.

Flanagan confirmed his interest in the vacant Dragons role and said the club has been in contact with his manager.

“I’ll just let it unfold, that’s what you have managers for, and hopefully something happens and it gets done,” Flanagan said on 2GB Radio.

“I’d need to talk to their board and CEO and they’d have a lot of questions for me and I’d have a lot of questions for them and we need to go through that process for sure.

“Obviously Jason had some concerns when he went there then pulled out at the last minute with a good offer to go to Melbourne.

“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge and hopefully it doesn’t take too long if it’s going to happen but I’ll just leave it to my manager and over the next week or two I’ll be able to tell you what’s happening.

Shane Flanagan has put his hand up for the Dragons job.

“I don’t think I need to go through an interview process, obviously the club would know exactly what I’ve done in the game - I’ve coached at NRL level for eight years, won a competition.”

Flanagan’s critics include Dragons board member Peter Doust but he’s reportedly now more open to a potential appointment.

The veteran coach said he’s a “better person” in the wake of the supplements scandal that initially saw him banned from coaching almost a decade ago.

“Obviously, which everyone talks about, I had a suspension but I learnt so much from that period. I’m a better person, a better coach. If the Dragons are interested, we’ll chat,” Flanagan said.

“It was a really dark day in rugby league and I’m not making any excuses for it. We didn’t have a CEO at the time and obviously we got a rogue person into the club and when I found out about it I got rid of him... and then two years later they came knocking on our door and said your players might have had something given to them by a trainer and I was as shocked as anyone.

Former Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan with son Kyle and wife Cathie. Picture supplied

“But I was the head coach, back then I didn’t accept it - I said what am I supposed to know, players are given supplements and all that sort of stuff and it’s not my area. But if I’m the head coach I need to take control of that, so (I learnt) a lot about governance.

“I was young, I was bullish, all I wanted to do was win and I probably made some bad decisions, obviously I did.

“The whole thing in that period is a lot of people were suspended, there were football managers, trainers… and the club re-signed me for three years.

“So the club had faith in what I was doing. I sat out six months in 2014 and in 2015 we won every competition, SG Ball, Harold Matthews Cup, NSW Cup, because during that period I set up a structure I wanted to have in place and we reaped its rewards and then obviously we won in 2016, we went close in 2015.

“I know I can coach, I know I can set a club up for long-term success.”

Shane Flanagan during his time coaching the Sharks. Picture: Brett Costello

NRL great Gorden Tallis said Flanagan “looks like the ideal guy for the job” and his NRL 360 co-host Braith Anasta echoed the sentiment.

“They need an experienced coach, I don’t think a rookie coach is the way to go,” Anasta said.

“They need someone like Flanagan or Des (Hasler) to get in there and take control of the joint. Push the board aside, you guys are in the background, this is my club, this is my team and this is how I’m going to do it.

“They need a complete rebuild and they need leadership and they need it from the coach because they’re shown it’s not there at board level so whoever goes in there needs to be in full control.”

Veteran journalist Phil Rothfield said Flanagan won’t bother desperately trying to convince Dragons officials to hire him.

“I’ll tell you something about Flanagan, He’s not interested in going into a tussle with Dean Young and Ben Hornby,” Rothfield said.

“If St George genuinely want him and ring him, call him in and discuss the job, he’ll take it. But he’s not going to compete for it. He’s not going to be stuffed around.

“He’s happy at Manly, he’s not going to fight for that job. He can do without not missing out again on a job, we said he’d coach the Wests Tigers, we said he’d coach Canterbury and he looks like a loser by missing out.

“But he knows (the Dragons’) cap, he managed it for 12 months, he’d know every salary and I reckon he could talk Ben Hunt into staying.”

Originally published as ‘Hopefully it gets done’: Flanagan confirms Dragons talks, responds to criticism of his past