‘Total fabrication’: Phil Gould savages Kyle Flanagan report 

Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould has blasted reports that out-of-favour halfback Kyle Flanagan was set to be signed by Manly.

WOLLONGONG, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 30: Kyle Flanagan of the Bulldogs looks on after playing in the NSW Cup during the round nine NRL match between St George Illawarra Dragons and Canterbury Bulldogs at WIN Stadium on April 30, 2023 in Wollongong, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould has blasted reports that out-of-favour halfback Kyle Flanagan was set to be signed by Manly.

Flanagan was dropped last week for veteran playmaker Josh Reynolds, while teenage half Karl Oloapu also made his NRL debut off the bench.

Canterbury beat the Dragons 18-16 in a gutsy performance on Sunday as The Daily Telegraph reported Flanagan was set for an immediate move to the Sea Eagles, where his father is the assistant coach.

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In the following days a swap deal was reportedly on the cards before The Sydney Morning Herald wrote on Thursday that the whole thing was off.

The SMH reported that the parties could not agree to terms in an article that infuriated Gould, who took to social media to slam it.

“All of it rubbish and total fabrication,” Gould tweeted about the SMH story.

“Firstly, Kyle Flanagan was never heading to Manly. In this latest report the author suggests ‘Manly had expressed interest in the Canterbury halfback’

“Wrong. No one from Manly contacted me regarding Kyle Flanagan The author suggests that Flanagan is ‘currently languishing in reserve grade’.

Kyle Flanagan of the Bulldogs. Getty

“Kyle Flanagan is not languishing in reserve grade. He’s played one reserve grade game in 13 months and was pretty much man-of-the-match in that performance.

“That’s hardly ‘languishing’. We have a specific purpose in Kyle playing reserve grade at the moment, all in the best long term interests of Kyle’s future NRL career.

“The author goes on to say that the ‘parties could not agree to terms’. What parties? What terms? What discussions? There have been zero discussions around Kyle Flanagan between Manly and myself. Zero!!

“Give the kid a break. Please.”

Originally published as ‘Total fabrication’: Phil Gould savages Kyle Flanagan report