Club in turmoil amid losing streak, player exits and coaching questions
At 7.12am on Wednesday, Shane Flanagan used the club’s group chat to call 10 of his players into individual meetings with him.
As with all NRL clubs, numerous meetings were already planned for the day.
But some St George Illawarra players, who wanted to meet with their coach for five more minutes, feared their playing futures could be at risk in the near future after the club’s winless start to the season.
Their fears were soon assuaged. Each of them drifted in and out of fireside chats with Flanagan that were no more important than the day’s other commitments. But this reflects the mentality of a club where some of its players walk on eggshells and communication is non-existent, at least from an outward perspective.
During the club’s longest losing streak – a barren 10-game streak that started in 2025 and has included six straight losses through this season – there has been not a single public statement from anyone from the Dragons’ shiny new $65 million center of excellence at Fairy Meadow. Not from chairman Andrew Lancaster, chief executive Tim Watsford, chief operating officer Ben Creagh or recruiter Daniel Anderson.
In the hours before their final loss to Manly in Wollongong, the Dragons’ commercial truck lost control and ended up on its side while traveling down Mount Ousley. A season that was a metaphorical car crash turned into a literal one. If the hierarchy has a plan to get things back on track, long-suffering fans haven’t heard of it yet.
As despondent players filed out of the changing booths following the Sea Eagles loss, there was little appetite to address waiting journalists. Unable to play due to injury, co-captain Clint Gutherson was left to show leadership by being ready to say what needed to be said. He backed the beleaguered coach, admitting senior players were not a target and revealing he was prepared to give up his No.1 jersey if the club managed to attract Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater.
These comments were better received than those made by Flanagan in the post-match press conference. When asked about the possibility of making changes to his underperforming team, the championship-winning mentor replied: “The problem with most NRL clubs is, what do we put in their place?
“… There’s not a guy sitting there who can jump in there. It’s a tough one… If there was someone better on the sideline, I’d put him in, trust me.”
Those words did not help Flanagan endear himself to some members of the NSW Cup squad, which currently sit second in the standings and reached last year’s grand final. This was the last straw for Loko Pacifici Tonga, who is considered one of the game’s most promising young players. Tonga’s manager, who has been ruled out for selection all year despite being briefly sidelined with a neck injury, has demanded his client be given immediate leave to explore his options.
The rejection of the request resulted in agent Craig Clifton vacating the club, according to an email obtained by this imprint.
“You can’t privately tell us he’s a valuable part of your future when the head coach clearly says he has no better options to turn to,” Clifton wrote. “The contradiction is obvious and it is completely unfair to expect a 20-year-old player of Loko’s caliber to languish in an environment where his path is so clearly blocked.”
Long considered a target club, the Dragons are no longer in the unenviable position of having more players wanting to leave than joining. Zac Lomax and Ben Hunt are notable names who were nervous until their release. Jaydn Su’A will join Parramatta at the end of the season after opting not to take up the extension option in his contract, with Tonga still wanting to leave. Some other contracted players are also said to be weighing their options.
Flanagan presides over an unbalanced and underperforming team. Since he did the installation himself, there is no one else to blame. The plan that worked so well for him at Cronulla a decade ago – which involved luring undesirable veterans elsewhere – has backfired. Gutherson solved his rivals’ problems and created his own problems by recruiting Valentine Holmes and Damien Cook from clubs that did not want to keep them. Pace is the key currency in an overloaded NRL season and the trio no longer have that.
And then there’s an elephant in the room; The constant choice of Flanagan’s quarterback son, Kyle. While his half-partners churn and burn, Kyle remains a constant in a team that is often on the wrong side of tough battles.
Hunt fell out with Shane Flanagan and was eventually released; Bud Sullivan, Lachlan Ilias and Jonah Glover are gone. Another half option, Lyhkan King-Togia, has been in and out of first grade.
Flanagan is determined that Kyle remains the club’s best halfback, despite persuading Cronulla’s Daniel Atkinson to fill the role. Young recruit Kade Reed, meanwhile, is seen as too young and weak to be thrown into a struggling side.
Glover’s departure may be the most significant. Despite leading the Dragons reserve grade team to last year’s NSW Cup decider, Flanagans felt he would never make his NRL debut while at the club. The 23-year-old would have started the season as a freshman under Wayne Bennett at South Sydney this year had it not been for his broken jaw.
“I felt like I could never make it to the NRL with the Dragons, so I moved to the Rabbitohs,” Glover said when this imprint sat down with him last November.
“It was hard to review. I felt like I played pretty well, but I didn’t get the opportunity to play.”
The Dragons have promising potential, especially in the forwards. It will be difficult to retain them and surround them with the right people. Blues and Kangaroos prop Keaon Koloamatangi has been secured from 2027, but only after he was promised a five-year tenure – one season longer than other suitors are prepared to offer. Drinkwater, meanwhile, is making seven figures per season for his signature. These are other examples of a struggling club having to pay above market rate to strengthen its squad.
Despite the extravagant bids for targets, the field for potential players is quite tough. The spine is arguably the weakest area in the NRL and until the new signings arrive it is unclear who will be the coach. Flanagan’s pre-season announcement that the Dragons would not challenge for the title was hardly a shocking prediction, but few could have imagined they would remain winless until April.
Much has been made of the supposed tensions of the merger between the St George and Illawarra sides, which are joint venture partners. It’s mostly exaggerated. They have allowed Watsford to overhaul their management team and the focus has now turned to the football department. They are united in wanting Flanagan to succeed, knowing that their problems are much deeper.
In August last year, St George Illawarra shareholders opted to extend Flanagan’s contract until the end of 2028. They did this in the belief that it would create stability and end speculation about its future. Not. After a record losing run, this is the most talked about topic in the game.
