The 2025 NRL season has started in nightmare fashion for the St George Illawarra Dragons, who head into Friday’s clash against Manly Sea Eagles still searching for their first victory. With a winless 0-5 record and growing calls for head coach Shane Flanagan to step down, the veteran mentor has remained unshaken, doubling down on his commitment to turning the club’s fortunes around.
Last week’s humiliating 0-nil defeat to the North Queensland Cowboys left fans furious, with the home crowd booing the team off the pitch after a dismal attacking performance. That loss amplified the already intense pressure on Flanagan, who has been the target of constant scrutiny from fans and media alike over the past fortnight, coming just two weeks after Manly Sea Eagles terminated the contract of head coach Anthony Seibold. If Flanagan can lead his side to an upset win over Manly on home turf in Wollongong, it would immediately ease the heat on the embattled coach.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Flanagan struck a defiant but pragmatic tone, saying he will not be distracted by speculation over his future. “I’ve never been through this experience, but I’ve just got to battle on. All I can do is my best, and that’s what I’m doing at the moment. I turn up to work every day, prepare the team the best we can and look after the staff as best I can. That’s all I can do,” he said.
Flanagan emphasized that his priority remains the long-term stability of the Dragons organization, rather than his own job security. “I’m not worried about my future. I’ve got more important things to worry about at this stage of my career. I’ve got to worry about the club, and I value the stability, the team and the whole organisation, rather than self. If I do my job and we get through it, then that’s great. If we don’t, I can walk away and say I did my best.”
The 2016 premiership-winning coach acknowledged that pressure is inherent to coaching in the NRL, but added that the intensity of recent criticism has been difficult to endure. “It’s the NRL. If you don’t win, it’s going to come. I can’t believe the way that we attack each other in this great game of ours. I love the game, I love the people I’ve met through it and I love the players that I’ve coached. I understand it (the pressure), but I don’t enjoy it and I don’t encourage what’s going on. I wouldn’t wish what’s going on with me over the last few weeks on anyone,” he said.
For the pivotal Manly clash, Flanagan has made key positional adjustments to address the team’s ongoing attacking woes. Star captain Clint Gutherson will miss the game with a hamstring injury, while playmaker Kyle Flanagan – Shane Flanagan’s son – is set to return to the starting side after a scary head knock ruled him out of last week’s game. Flanagan rejected claims of nepotism around his son’s selection, saying the young halfback has earned his spot through consistent performance.
“He’s our best halfback in the club and he competes hard. You can ask all our other coaches who have got some qualifications behind them, Mick Ennis and Dean Young and Willie Talau. I don’t go pick Kyle because of his surname. He’s got to do a job and he is within our top three or four players – competitive wise – week in, week out. He’s our best halfback in the club at the moment, so we pick him,” Flanagan said.
Key recruit Daniel Atkinson, who struggled with a poor kicking performance against the Cowboys while filling in at halfback, has been shifted from halfback to five-eighth. Flanagan explained the change is designed to play to both players’ strengths: Kyle Flanagan will take charge of on-field organization, while Atkinson can focus on his strength: running the ball and generating attacking momentum.
“As time’s gone on, we just feel that Kyle’s strength is to organise the team and get them around the park. Daniel’s probably felt a bit of pressure, especially last week with Kyle not there, to do both. His strength is his running game and his kicking (even though) he kicked a couple dead last week, but that was probably under pressure being on his own. It’ll take the pressure off Daniel and we’ll go back to Kyle’s strength about getting the team around the park. So I think it’s just a change in number, but it’s also a change in mindset,” Flanagan said.
The Dragons have already been rocked this season by the sudden departures of star players Ben Hunt and Zac Lomax, departures that have disrupted the team’s structure and left gaps in the starting lineup. Flanagan noted that young development players have stepped up in their absence and shown promise for the future, but a win Friday is critical to turning around the club’s devastating start to the 2025 campaign.