St George-Illawarra Dragons confirm Shane Flanagan will be their new NRL coach

Shane Flanagan will be appointed as St George Illawarra’s next head coach, 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 the ex-Cronulla boss would become Anthony Griffin’s permanent successor from 2024.

The Dragons confirmed to AAP Flanagan had been offered the job.

The parties will now begin working on the length of his contract, salary and other specifics.

Top-rated assistant coach Jason Ryles was initially the front-runner to become the Dragons’ next full-time boss after a six-game losing streak cost Griffin his job last month.

Shane Flanagan, pictured when he was an assistant coach at the Dragons in 2020, will return to the club to take up the head coaching position

Flanagan guided the Sharks to their drought-breaking 2016 premiership, before the supplements saga saw him banned from head coaching roles

When Dragons great Jason Ryles, pictured as assistant coach of the Roosters earlier this season, knocked back the role, it was Flanagan’s for the taking

When Ryles knocked the Dragons back to rejoin Melbourne as an assistant, Flanagan rocketed into the driving 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 at the Sharks with a 55 per cent winning record and the 2016 premiership.

Flanagan is currently an assistant coach at Manly.

As of last week, the Sea Eagles had not confirmed whether the 57-year-old would be released mid-season to begin work at the Dragons.

With a 2-2 record since taking over from Griffin, interim coach Ryan Carr is expected to see the season out but St George Illawarra have been keen for their new coach to begin work on the roster as soon as possible.

The Dragons have had a tough few years, and sit last on the ladder this year. Can Flanagan turn the struggling club around? 

The Dragons have struggled to attract top-quality talent in recent seasons.

They are ranked last on the ladder through 15 rounds and are facing the very real possibility of missing a fifth consecutive year of finals.

Since their merger in 1999, the Dragons had never previously gone more than three years without finals football.

Saints will hope Flanagan’s winning experience, and his previous stint on staff as an assistant, can help convince current players to stay despite the lack of recent success.

Even before being guaranteed the job, Flanagan had made contact with 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 implore him to stay at the Dragons

The Dragons job will be Flanagan’s first NRL head-coaching role since being deregistered by the league in late 2018 after it came to light he remained in contact with Cronulla during a year-long suspension incurred for his role in the club’s supplements scandal.

As part of his punishment, Flanagan has only been permitted to apply for head-coaching roles without seeking exemption from the NRL since November 2021.

He returned to coaching as an assistant at the Dragons in 2020.

He left when Griffin became head coach in 2021 and this season joined the Sea Eagles under new head coach Anthony Seibold.

Seibold had previously said he backed his assistant to land the Dragons job, despite Flanagan having two years to run on his contract at Brookvale Oval.