St George-Illawarra Dragons confirm Shane Flanagan will be their new NRL coach
The worst kept secret in footy is confirmed! Dragons announces controversial mentor Shane Flanagan as the struggling club’s new coach
- Shane Flanagan will coach the Dragons
- Came after Jason Ryles turned down the role
- Ends ex-Sharks coach’s five-year exile
Shane Flanagan will be appointed as the next head coach of St George Illawarra, ending the premiership winner’s five-year exile from the hot seat at an NRL club.
By the end of the Dragons’ board meeting on Tuesday, it had been unanimously decided that the ex-Cronulla boss would become Anthony Griffin’s permanent successor from 2024.
The Dragons confirmed to AAP that Flanagan got the job.
The parties will now work on the length of his contract, salary and other details.
Top-rated assistant coach Jason Ryles was initially the frontrunner to become the Dragons’ next full-time boss after a six-game losing streak cost Griffin his job last month.
Shane Flanagan, pictured as an assistant coach with the Dragons in 2020, returns to the club to take up the head coaching position
Flanagan led the Sharks to their drought-breaking 2016 premiership before the supplement saga banned him from head coaching roles
When Dragons great Jason Ryles, pictured earlier this season as an assistant coach to the Roosters, knocked back the role, it was up for grabs for Flanagan.
When Ryles beat the Dragons back to rejoin Melbourne as an assistant, Flanagan fired into the driver’s seat ahead of former Dragons players and current NRL assistants Dean Young and Ben Hornby.
Flanagan was the only candidate on that shortlist with head coaching experience, having finished his 185-game tenure with the Sharks with a winning record of 55 percent and the 2016 premiership.
Flanagan is currently an assistant coach at Manly.
As of last week, the Sea Eagles had not yet confirmed whether the 57-year-old would be released midway through the season to join the Dragons.
With a 2-2 record since taking over from Griffin, interim coach Ryan Carr expects to see out the season, but St George Illawarra were keen for their new coach to start the squad as soon as possible.
The Dragons have had a rough few years and are last on the ladder this year. Can Flanagan turn the struggling club around?
The Dragons have struggled to attract top talent in recent seasons.
They are in last place on the ladder after 15 rounds and are in danger of missing finals for the fifth consecutive year.
Since their merger in 1999, the Dragons had never been without Finals football for more than three years.
Saints hopes Flanagan’s winning experience and previous stint as an assistant on staff can convince current players to stay, despite the lack of recent success.
Even before he was guaranteed the job, Flanagan had contacted captain Ben Hunt to encourage the halfback not to follow close confidant Griffin out the door.
Flanagan approached skipper Ben Hunt (pictured) even before he was confirmed as the new coach to beg him to stay with the Dragons
The Dragons job will be Flanagan’s first NRL head coaching role since he was de-registered by the league in late 2018 after it emerged that he remained in contact with Cronulla during a year-long suspension he received for his role in the club’s supplements scandal .
As part of his sentence, Flanagan has only been allowed to apply for head coaching roles since November 2021 without seeking an exemption from the NRL.
He returned to coaching as an assistant with the Dragons in 2020.
He left when Griffin became head coach in 2021 and joined the Sea Eagles this season under new head coach Anthony Seibold.
Seibold had previously said he supported his assistant in landing the Dragons job, despite Flanagan still having two years left on his contract at Brookvale Oval.