News ‘If he wasn’t the best halfback he wouldn’t play’: Shane Flanagan addresses elephant in the room as Bulldogs call looms

djdeep4172

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Premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan believes he could “without a doubt’’ could get the best out of his son and Bulldogs halfback Kyle.

Flanagan has thrown his hat in the ring for the Canterbury head coaching role left vacant after Trent Barrett fell on his sword last week.

Kyle made his NRL debut playing for his father at the Sharks in 2018, before a highly-publicised stint at the Roosters in 2020.

Canterbury signed Kyle last year but he only made 13 appearances and barely trained with the first-grade side over the summer.


The 23-year-old was eventually picked in Round 5 to face the reigning premiers Penrith and has held his spot since, chalking up one win against the Roosters in Round 8.

Flanagan told the Fox League Podcast there are several factors contributing to his son playing below his best since arriving at Belmore.

“What’s happened over the last 12 or 18 months hasn’t been great for Kyle,” Flanagan said.

“And that’s criticising no one, it’s just the circumstances that he was in. He didn’t play half of last year and didn’t get the start this year and he lost a lot of his confidence.


“He’s a lot better football player than he’s shown now. He’s was always one of those elite kids coming through the grades. A prolific point scorer, tries and goals.

“He’s got some holes in his game without a doubt that he needs to work hard on, I’m just not sure he’s getting that at training at the moment.

“There’s more bigger picture stuff happening there. A lot of the players at the Bulldogs aren’t playing well at the moment.”

Flanagan was optimistic about Kyle’s move to the Bulldogs under Barrett but conceded it just “didn’t work out”.

“I think I can help him in a big way. I’ve coached him before at the Sharks, he was there for two years,” he said.

“I gave him his debut jumper. He knows better than me that he’s got to be the best halfback in the club to play first grade. And that’s the way I'd pick it, if he wasn’t the best halfback he wouldn’t play.”


Flanagan said the systems at the Dogs hadn’t suited his son’s attacking style, and that he kept his distance when Kyle was at the Roosters.

“I’ve been really conscious, especially when he went to the Roosters, to try and not to coach him, because he had a really good coach in Robbo there and I didn’t know what Robbo was talking to him daily about doing, so I stayed out of it,” he said.

“I was disappointed when he got dropped because there wasn’t a lot of reason behind it but I’ve always stayed out of trying to coach Kyle and give him tips on how he’s going to play.

“I’d say whether he played poorly or good in my view, but I never coached him during the week. Robbo is a fantastic coach and they had Cooper (Cronk) there and I’m sure he was getting ample information, so I just stayed out of it.

“When he went to the Bulldogs I thought it would be a great move for him there with Trent being a halfback, but it just didn’t work out.”

The NRL360 panel discussed Flanagan’s interview with the Daily Telegraph’s Paul Crawley questioning whether he could make the tough call on his son.

“Is his son Kyle going to be the long-term answer there and if Kyle doesn’t work out next year how does the conversation go when you get home and you say ‘son you’re on your bike’,” he asked.

“There are concerns over Kyle and how he’s gone at the Bulldogs. I will say the Bulldogs’ treatment of Flanagan has been disgraceful in my opinion.

“But the problem for Flanno is that he says (Kyle) is not being coached right now but was he being coached right at the Roosters? Because they made a similar judgement. They took him there to be their long-term halfback, after 12 months they pulled the pin.


Paul Kent, however, said Flanagan was “mature” enough to handle the situation.

“If Kyle is not hitting the marks, Shane is smart enough to say ‘you’re not doing the job’. He will either find a way to get him to do the job or he will go elsewhere

“It’s also Shane’s career. He doesn’t get a third go if he fails at Canterbury.”
 

Flanagun

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Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Kent is right on this. The club's treatment of me has been very bad. It has improved a little this year under Gus, but Barrett's management of me last year set my career back three years.

Kent is wrong about the Roosters though. We shouldn't write me off just because they lost patience with me. That club has no loyalty. Politis would shop his own wife around if she burnt dinner.
 

B-Train

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Can Flanagan stop talking about his son or a job that hasn't been confirmed as his yet?

How do people not see the Kyle/Shane storyline as being a problem or a massive distraction? He's already making a million excuses for him despite the fact that Kyle was struggling at the Roosters before then..

This is more proof that if Shane gets the job, Kyle cannot be at the club. It's a recipe for disaster.
 

Flanagun

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Can Flanagan stop talking about his son or a job that hasn't been confirmed as his yet?

How do people not see the Kyle/Shane storyline as being a problem or a massive distraction? He's already making a million excuses for him despite the fact that Kyle was struggling at the Roosters before then..

This is more proof that if Shane gets the job, Kyle cannot be at the club. It's a recipe for disaster.
I struggled at the Roosters because the idiots signed a young halfback, expecting him to play like Cooper Cronk. They placed too much expectation on me and and I was given no time to find my feet, being dropped from the side on several occasions. Roosters were almost as bad for my development as the dogs were last year. Not sure if I am this club's long term halfback or not any more. Confidence is quite low. But I was highly rated when coming up through the junior ranks and there is a good reason for that. I am a good player, I have just been managed very poorly by a selfish club, and another club which had no idea what it was doing. Love my daddy and so glad he believes in me.
 

Flanagun

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Kyle is the best halfback at the club but only because the rest are slightly more shit than him so he will still get picked. What happens when Gus signs a better halfback?
He'll sign Munster to play 6, I'll stay at 7 and Burton will move to centre. Bang, bang. That's money.
 

Bazildog

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Can Flanagan stop talking about his son or a job that hasn't been confirmed as his yet?

How do people not see the Kyle/Shane storyline as being a problem or a massive distraction? He's already making a million excuses for him despite the fact that Kyle was struggling at the Roosters before then..

This is more proof that if Shane gets the job, Kyle cannot be at the club. It's a recipe for disaster.
I have no doubt if he signs he will give him a shot at the 7, but if he plays the same or we sign another half i dont believe it will be a problem as Gould will make that crystal clear in contract discussion. Also Kyle comes off contract next year so perhaps Gould will asssist with a SL connection for him to soften the blow. This is another reason why if it is to be Flannagan it should happen now during the seconf half of this season.
 

B-Train

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I have no doubt if he signs he will give him a shot at the 7, but if he plays the same or we sign another half i dont believe it will be a problem as Gould will make that crystal clear in contract discussion. Also Kyle comes off contract next year so perhaps Gould will asssist with a SL connection for him to soften the blow. This is another reason why if it is to be Flannagan it should happen now during the seconf half of this season.
The way Shane is talking about Kyle should be raising alarm bells at the club. If anyone else takes over as coach, they wouldn't want Kyle at the club. That's the issue. We want to move him on and should do so before Shane is coach. It should be an either/or situation.

If Shane has a problem with that then he'll prove he's not the right man for the job and would be difficult to work with. Because if Shane was coach and Kyle's surname was Flinstone instead of Flanagan, there's no way he'd want him at the club or would ever contemplate picking him based on form for the past three seasons.
 

Scoooby

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Need to sign Shane Flannagan now, so he can get his roster together and give Burton that closure
That’s what we want, lots of articles about Shane, Better to merge then into one big thread. Just get him here is the one. He’s more then likely already signed. Has to be!
 

Cappuccino

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I struggled at the Roosters because the idiots signed a young halfback, expecting him to play like Cooper Cronk. They placed too much expectation on me and and I was given no time to find my feet, being dropped from the side on several occasions. Roosters were almost as bad for my development as the dogs were last year. Not sure if I am this club's long term halfback or not any more. Confidence is quite low. But I was highly rated when coming up through the junior ranks and there is a good reason for that. I am a good player, I have just been managed very poorly by a selfish club, and another club which had no idea what it was doing. Love my daddy and so glad he believes in me.
He'll sign Munster to play 6, I'll stay at 7 and Burton will move to centre. Bang, bang. That's money.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Kent is right on this. The club's treatment of me has been very bad. It has improved a little this year under Gus, but Barrett's management of me last year set my career back three years.

Kent is wrong about the Roosters though. We shouldn't write me off just because they lost patience with me. That club has no loyalty. Politis would shop his own wife around if she burnt dinner.
wtf
 

c-b-b

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Daddy Flanagan please accept your son might have been good in lower grades or under 10’s but that doesn’t translate to FG footy.

No other coach could get the best out of him but you will, yeah ok. As much as I hate the roosters I think their coach was a pretty good judge and moved him on.

If Shane signs you will see at least all of 23 with Kyle at halfback and him trying to make the side work around his son. Blood is thicker than water.
 

InGusWeTrust

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I reckon Shane and Kyle are like Ivan and Nathan, in that they have a similar relationship to their sons. They'd be hard but realistic.

Most fans are saying they wouldn't want the two together. I reckon it has a high probability of reaping rewards. And he'd drop him if he wasn't producing what's necessary.
 

Scoooby

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I reckon Shane and Kyle are like Ivan and Nathan, in that they have a similar relationship to their sons. They'd be hard but realistic.

Most fans are saying they wouldn't want the two together. I reckon it has a high probability of reaping rewards. And he'd drop him if he wasn't producing what's necessary.
Absolutely, and Shane was loud and clear to make that point.. Kyle knows it and so does he. And the fact that Kyle brings daddy to the club, it’s good for us.

Kyle steps up and we see the best of him because daddy is coach. Good for us, Kyle doesn’t pull finger and daddy drops him and other players that don’t, even better for us.And we in return get a coach with great stats and winning ways… it’s all positives. a win win situation.!! And we need some wins now. Had enough heartbreak and losses over the years.
 

hackenbush

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Yeah .. this could potential wreck 2023 if Kyle stays. There will always be some father - son loyalty. What I am concerned is the few comments from Cronk when commenting on Dogs games with Kyle playing. He was particularly scathing, I remember him calling Kyle performance as selfish & not digging into the line , amongst other comments. There seemed more that not fitting into the Roosters system, more like he had a firm opinion that Kyle was not a HB option that would consistently win you games.
 
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