News Flanagan offered to Super League clubs

[Spoonman84]

He wouldn't be going there for the money, he would be going there for a fg opportunity.
As for sticking it out here, hecant even make our fg squad right now, how do you expect him to make it next year once Burton arrives? We also have BBO showing some serious signs of being a future half at our club. So he is no chance in fg next year. Better off chasing a fg spot in the uk, while the uk club pays barely half his salary.

He’s one or two injuries away from playing first grade here. No one has claimed the halfback spot so it’s wide open. He’s not that far off and he may never get a chance in the NRL again.

If it was me there’s no way I’d be leaving.

 

[Dognacious]

Sorry I do not totally agree with you. Let’s look at another scenario like Manly. They were at the bottom of the ladder until Tom returned! A good player will shine no matter what. A good player can lift the whole team! Players like Cotric and Allen are not improving or showing consistency (actually no one has shown real improvement) and imo it’s the coaching staff that need to be assessed. This is where I am excited Gus comes into it!

Not really seen a centre or winger change a team like turbo changes manly or ponga changes Knights. Centres and wingers depend on service and momentum. Fullbacks can pop up anywhere, and provide service to the other backs

 

[Yougra]

Let's not forget this is the elite competition of rugby league where only the best survive.

Flanno was handed a golden opportunity, 3 year deal on substantial money, a coach that backed him, and first dibs at becoming a regular NRL halfback. He looked promising in the first game in atrocious conditions and every game after that he regressed until he was dropped.

I think we all gave him the benefit of the doubt and we all wanted him to come good, but he didn't. He couldn't even give us the basics at the minimum required level. TBaz gave him 10 games before he hooked him. If Flanno couldn't handle being dropped then he doesn't have the mental toughness to be our halfback.

And I don't buy into the "he was playing behind a beaten pack" excuse. Sure he was, but when we did have field position he still never showed anything, his kicking game never got us out of trouble, no repeat sets, no running game, no line breaks, no attacking threat whatsoever and would more often than not go missing which left us looking totally unorganised

I'm glad Gus has come in and (from the outside looking in) has said, he ain't our guy , and is now making moves to offload him. Thank god for Gus because I fear we would have been stuck with him for 3 years

We aren't a charity anymore, and if a player doesn't work out and provide the value we need....out they go and we get a better replacement in. It's long overdue for our club, we need to get rid of the plodders which we have been accustomed to (just look we we are sitting on the table)

If Kyle has the mental toughness he should go to the Super League, develop his game and show what he is made of. Spend 5 years over there and come back a much better player if he wants to. Either way it's not our problem to worry about supporting the kid blah blah. We gave him the chance, he isn't the player we thought he could be, recruitment fuckup??...yes, but we do our best to fix the problem and get a much more capable player in one of the most important positions in the team

I have 100% faith in Gus' judgement and what calls he is making in regards to our roster

 

[dogluva]

Probably for the best. Wonder whether daddy will follow him so he can continue his guidance...

 

[w00t]

The telltale sign for Flannagan wasn't just his performances. He had one good game in round 1 and then regressed but rather instead of knuckling down and working on himself in the reserves he went sooking to the papers and crying to anyone that would listen to him.

The real kicker was when he said he didn't even think he was playing that badly in the Dragons game where he got hooked. Like are you for real?!

Sure there are plenty of players just as bad as him in this years squad but guess what most of them are either gone by the end of the year and or do not feature in our future plans as anything more than a depth player. He was signed on decent coin to be our leading halfback and utterly failed at that role. Lacks talent and has a real attitude problem

 

[Nasheed]

If he keeps insisting he's a starting NRL half, then it will be hard to move him without paying 100k or so in freight. Unless Shane Flanagan gets a job of course, then he'll take Kyle off our hands.

yo,
peeps is always saying up in here that Shane will take him if he coaches up but i think it wont because bosses will say its nepotism yo.

 

[Burgler]

The telltale sign for Flannagan wasn't just his performances. He had one good game in round 1 and then regressed but rather instead of knuckling down and working on himself in the reserves he went sooking to the papers and crying to anyone that would listen to him.

The real kicker was when he said he didn't even think he was playing that badly in the Dragons game where he got hooked. Like are you for real?!

Sure there are plenty of players just as bad as him in this years squad but guess what most of them are either gone by the end of the year and or do not feature in our future plans as anything more than a depth player. He was signed on decent coin to be our leading halfback and utterly failed at that role. Lacks talent and has a real attitude problem

I agree with this and I would like to keep him for another 12 months. Get Gus into his ear and give him some home truths, like Gus or not, his opinion carries a lot of weight and I think if he told Flanagan how it is, what he has to work on and where he stands in the future with the club, he might rip in and be the player we were expecting. You have to remember the kid is 22 years old, this generation handle adversity differently and he's own father said that he has never been in a struggling football team. He's played all junior reps and in good footy sides his whole life so he's never had to go through it before. It doesn't help that he is the halfback and under the most scrutiny for performance.

This is the problem with the Broncos, they've all come from good junior sides and don't know how to win when things go against them or they have to come from behind.

 

[alchemist]

Flanagan, from what I have seen, is not up to being a FG halfback in the NRL... and in truth, he might never be

but IF he is to be a FG NRL halfback in the future, he needs to be playing week in, week out now and the ESL would appear to be the best place for him now

what is the worst that can happen... he has a 3-4 year working holiday in the UK earning good money living the professional sportsmen lifestyle... yeah, I feel sorry for him

 

[Headmix]

It’s not me … it’s you

 

[Rod67]

So I guess at one point he had “the full support of the board”.

 

[amapusae]

Flanagan was a signing that didnt seem bad at the time, but we should have done more homework into what hes like off the field. His ego and main character syndrome seems to be whats put him out of favour, along with dogshit performances. As cliche as it is, his best bet is to follow the jackson hastings path and tigers will give him 800k after a couple years

 

[Sandra's Bollocks]

Imagine the bbq's if both Maloney and Vaughn sign?

 

[Bulldog1966]

Fn knew the "comparison to Cleary" story was white noise and a beat up lolol.

 

[dekepefc]

We need depth in key positions.
Keep Flanagan as back up to Averillo.
One injury to a half next year then what??

Flanagan should stay and be developed as back up half.

And Lewis should be back up five eight.

Good strong clubs have depth in key positions.
The last time we won the competition Thurston was on the bench as back up half.

Wakeham is probably our backup 6/7.. BBO and even dufty potentially too.. do still need one more backup 6/7. Not sure lewis is the answer.

 

[Como Dog]

Imagine the bbq's if both Maloney and Vaughn sign?

Something will definitely be cooking on a spit.

 

[Hulk76]

Ash Taylor would come cheap now as first choice to partner burton if he proves himself. Offer him a fair 1 year deal to keep him on his toes? I reckon he's worth the risk. I know he has had his mental health issues, but maybe a new environment and fresh start would do him wonders.

 

[Flanagun]

Actually you had a very young player be transferred from Blackburn to United, who very much could have been overawed by the sheer size of United. Very few players cope well with the pressures of playing for United. Ferguson had no right to pump Jones' tires but in any case a manager backs his decision and says that he has faith in his recruits. Its a "well derrrrrrrrrrrr" statement, a nothing statement and you're overblowing that statement.

Here is Barretts statement word for word

“There is some similarity between Nathan Cleary and Kyle Flanagan,” he told Sky Sports Radio. “Kyle will have his hands on the ball a lot as did Nathan."

And how Flanagan responded to said backing

"Knowing that I am the long-term halfback here gives me a lot of confidence," Flanagan said. "I can really build my game here, I don't have to go out there and do the try assists and score tries straightaway. Talking to Baz and everyone at the club I really know that they want to build a team around me."

"I don't feel like I am under any pressure here at all. I just want to continue to build my game, keep getting better each week. Baz has been really been clear that I just have to do my role and play a seven-out-of-10 each week."

That hardly sounds like a player under pressure to perform. That sounds like a player who's happy he's got his coaches backing and that the expectations are realistic.

More importantly this comparison to Cleary you're harping on about, is a nothing comparison. If that line puts pressure on Flanagan HAHAHAHAHAHAH c'mon you can't be serious.

As for the rest of it, no, I would see it as Barrett giving Kyle more than enough to prove himself and lead the team. At the start of the season Kyle was head and shoulders above every other half at the club, the other halves were made to feel like shit and prove themselves.

Guess what happened? The other halves (without the same backing) proved themselves more than Kyle. Kyle was given chance after chance after chance and failed.

It's all on Kyle, end of!

I know exactly what he said and my honest opinion is it was stupid. There was no need to bring Cleary’s name into it at all. He called a presser and paraded the kid like a marquee signing. 10 rounds onto the season he was out of favour. If you can’t see that made Trent look like an idiot, there’s no hope for you... lol

And what did you expect Flanagan to say when asked by the media if he felt pressure? Yes, I feel a lot of pressure, it was a bit stupid if my new coach to say that?. Sure the vote of confidence would have given him a bit of a lift in the short term... but when the reality of just how tough the job of steering this team was going to be, the unrealistic expectations Trent put on him would have weighed heavier and heavier on him week by week. Thsts his pressure works. It builds and it builds. The weight of certain words linger and grow heavier. There’s a big difference between showing confidence in a young player and over pumping his tyres.

Barrett should have never signed Flanagan and asked him to steer this team. I gave the signing the benefit of the doubt at the time and took the optimistic approach because I had faith in what Trent was doing. Turns out I was wrong. Trent made the wrong call.

When Barrett did make the decision to sign Flanagan, he shouldn’t have done so with so much fanfare.

He certainly shouldn’t have used him as a media pawn, naming him
In the team and waffling on to the media about how he had full confidence in him and he could handle the pressure. How do you think Flanagan would have felt watching his coach say all these complimentary things, knowing full well they weren’t true and he wouldn’t even be playing? The kid must have felt totally humiliated. Of all the mistakes I think Barrett made with Flanagan, this is the hardest to forgive. The others were at least well intentioned.

Barrett’s management of Flanagan has been shockingly bad. That’s how I feel. I’m not going to waste any more time arguing with you about it, because you’re not going to change your mind and I’m im sure as hell not either.... but I think you’re just being tribal here. You love the club and can’t stand Flanagan, so you close your eyes and cover your ears to the obvious truth which is staring you in the face. Just like the majority of members of this forum.

 

[Aristidiz]

I know exactly what he said and my honest opinion is it was stupid. There was no need to bring Cleary’s name into it at all. He called a presser and paraded the kid like a marquee signing. 10 rounds onto the season he was out of favour. If you can’t see that made Trent look like an idiot, there’s no hope for you... lol

And what did you expect Flanagan to say when asked by the media if he felt pressure? Yes, I feel a lot of pressure, it was a bit stupid if my new coach to say that?. Sure the vote of confidence would have given him a bit of a lift in the short term... but when the reality of just how tough the job of steering this team was going to be, the unrealistic expectations Trent put on him would have weighed heavier and heavier on him week by week. Thsts his pressure works. It builds and it builds. The weight of certain words linger and grow heavier. There’s a big difference between showing confidence in a young player and over pumping his tyres.

Barrett should have never signed Flanagan and asked him to steer this team. I gave the signing the benefit of the doubt at the time and took the optimistic approach because I had faith in what Trent was doing. Turns out I was wrong. Trent made the wrong call.

When Barrett did make the decision to sign Flanagan, he shouldn’t have done so with so much fanfare.

He certainly shouldn’t have used him as a media pawn, naming him
In the team and waffling on to the media about how he had full confidence in him and he could handle the pressure. How do you think Flanagan would have felt watching his coach say all these complimentary things, knowing full well they weren’t true and he wouldn’t even be playing? The kid must have felt totally humiliated. Of all the mistakes I think Barrett made with Flanagan, this is the hardest to forgive. The others were at least well intentioned.

Barrett’s management of Flanagan has been shockingly bad. That’s how I feel. I’m not going to waste any more time arguing with you about it, because you’re not going to change your mind and I’m im sure as hell not either.... but I think you’re just being tribal here. You love the club and can’t stand Flanagan, so you close your eyes and cover your ears to the obvious truth which is staring you in the face. Just like the majority of members of this forum.

100% this is on Barrett. I even rember watching a clip where they were interviewing players and asking who was the coaches pet, 10/10 players said Flanagan was. He was brought into the inner circle by Barrett touted as a future captain, only for Barrett to realise 5 rounds in that he didn't cut it as a first grade halfback, and as you have said has managed the whole situation very poorly ever since.

 

[OldDogFan]

I agree that the Bulldogs are no longer a charity foundation that cares for the unloved and rejected rugby league players, but, TBaz did err in the Flanagan signing and it is not Kyles fault. Rather than throw him to the wolves and ship him off to ESL, I believe it is in TBaz's (and Gus's) best interest to keep a hold of the young bloke and train him to be a half. Great opportunity for TBaz to show good a coach he really is. I believe that Barrett IS a good coach that will take this team a long way and you never know, we also might just get a top shelf ½back to boot.

 

[GoTheDoggies]

100% this is on Barrett. I even rember watching a clip where they were interviewing players and asking who was the coaches pet, 10/10 players said Flanagan was. He was brought into the inner circle by Barrett touted as a future captain, only for Barrett to realise 5 rounds in that he didn't cut it as a first grade halfback, and as you have said has managed the whole situation very poorly ever since.

Barrett hand picked him and now Gould has the balls to properly clean up the roster. He will get rid of Barrett's deadwood, Pay's and the few left from the Hasler era.