Mycampusplug
“‘Exclusive!’ Dragons Legend Breaks Silence on Explosive Nepotism Claims as Shane Flanagan Faces Brutal Call”
St George Illawarra’s last premiership winning five-eighth has called for calm amid claims of nepotism and favouritism from current coach Shane Flanagan.
Flanagan has been under fire in recent weeks for picking his son Kyle in the team over other playmakers who are arguably in better form.
The Dragons sit 11th on the NRL ladder with five wins from 13 games, but could be as high as fifth if a couple of one-point losses early in the year had fallen the other way.
The tight losses to the Rabbitohs and Eels heaped mountains of pressure on the halves Lachlan Ilias and Kyle Flanagan, but it was the former who was eventually axed while the coach’s son has managed to hold his spot in the NRL team despite some underwhelming performances.
Critics have come for Flanagan senior, with allegations he is protecting Kyle, 26, but the premiership-winning coach has aggressively denied any suggestion of nepotism.
He was, though, forced to walk back on stinging public criticism of Ilias following the field goal loss to South Sydney in round two.
To say Kyle is under pressure is ridiculous. I think people are looking in the wrong direction,” Flanagan told News Corp recently.
“He’s been among our best players all year. It’s not me, ask the other players and coaches. I’m probably harder on Kyle than any other player.”
Jamie Soward was the No.6 when the merger club won its only NRL premiership in 2010.
He is confident Flanagan is picking the team he thinks can achieve the most success, but says change will be forced if the side doesn’t start scoring more points.
The Dragons have scored the fifth least points in the competition this season, and Kyle himself has only registered four try assists in 13 games.
“The pressure of losing those games at the start of the year is probably coming to the fore at the moment for the Dragons. That’s put pressure on them, and with the competition being so tight that could be the difference at the end of the year,” Soward told Wide World of Sports.
“If the senior players think the team needs a change, they will probably talk to Flanno about that.
In terms of what Shane is seeing from his son, there has to be some good parts to his game. I think at times they could probably go out of their box a little bit and change their kicking game, attack a little bit more. But the game is completely different to when I played. It is a lot more statistical around kicking to a corner, trying to force an error a little bit more than the momentum swings we had when I was playing.
“They have had a couple of big losses… everything is magnified at the moment because the competition is so tight. Those games at the start of the year, I think they are starting to feel the pinch now.”
Kyle is one of the more maligned playmakers in the competition, having failed to make his mark at the Sharks, Roosters, and Bulldogs before being signed by his dad to join the Red V last year.
Many would argue there are better halfbacks who aren’t getting a game in the NRL at the moment, but Soward believes Flanagan can often be judged too harshly.
“(Penrith halfback) Nathan Cleary made it unfair for everyone, right? Because now every young half is supposed to be like Nathan Cleary, this great organiser, kicking game. When we look at young halves these days we judge them unfairly,” he said.
“I look at Kyle’s game – I’ve watched him for a while now – I think he’s a good organiser, he’s a good defender. I think at times he could be a little bit more risk taking, think outside the box a little bit. Play more what’s in front of him versus trying to stay in the system.
The way we look at young halves these days… look at a guy like (Bulldogs playmaker) Toby Sexton, who is leading the comp at the moment. He’s doing his job, in a system that is winning. Both those teams have essentially got two guys (Flanagan and Sexton) who just stick to the plan, (but) they’ve got X-factor around them, the Bulldogs, whereas the Dragons have a younger half outside him who is trying to find his feet as well.
“Whether Flanno needs to make a change or not is up to him. One thing I know about Flanno is he doesn’t let anyone off the hook, he knows how to win, he’s a winner. But at the end of the day he probably needs to see something from Kyle this weekend that shows he can take it to the next level.”
While Kyle Flanagan cops heat for his performances in the NRL, Ilias is making plenty of noise in NSW Cup.
The club’s reserve grade team is unbeaten in the seven games Ilias has played since being axed by Flanagan, and he’s done it all alongside rising star Jonah Glover.
Glover, 22, has registered 15 try assists and scored three himself in 14 games this season, and is well and truly banging on the door of an NRL debut.
Meanwhile fellow young gun Lyhkan King-Togia, 20, has signed with the club for 2026 and 2027 and looks to be the long-term choice at five-eighth.
And with Daniel Atkinson joining the club from Cronulla next year, it could leave him, Flanagan, Ilias, and Glover all fighting for the No.7 jumper.
“Jonah Glover has been playing exceptionally well in reserve grade. I haven’t seen a lot of him but people will tell you he probably deserves a chance soon, so the pressure will be on the halves,” Soward said.
“As for Lyhkan, I’m a huge fan of him and what he can do.
“There’s not a great number of top-line halves out there you can get your hands on, so essentially you’ve got four young guys. And normally the mix when you’re going well is an older guy (in the halves) with a younger guy.
“Last year when you paired Ben Hunt with Kyle Flanagan you probably saw a better version of Kyle, because he had someone steering the team around and he could do his own thing.
They are all good kids, they are all struggling at the moment to find their feet and they’re in a team that needs to win ASAP. It’s bloody hard reapplying for your job every week.”
Flanagan will again partner King-Togia in the halves for Saturday’s crunch clash with Parramatta.
On the same day, Ilias and Glover will suit up for the reserve grade side, also taking on the Eels.
KYLE FLANAGAN
NRL games played: 112
Win rate in NRL career: 40.18 per cent
Games this season: 13
Try assists this season: 4
LACHLAN ILIAS
NRL games played: 60
Win rate in NRL career: 51.67 per cent
Games this season: 7
Try assists this season: 2
LYHKAN KING-TOGIA
NRL games played: 10
Win rate in NRL career: 30 per cent
Games this season: 6
Try assists this season: 4
JONAH GLOVER
NRL games played: 0
Win rate in NRL career: NA
Games this season: 0
Try assists this season: NA
