Kyle Flanagan faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines after he was released from hospital at 2.00am following his sickening head clash in the Dragons’ loss to the Titans.
Flanagan was unconscious for five minutes with Channel 9’s Danny Weidler reporting that, while he was cleared of fractures, he will still be out for a long period to recover from the ugly incident.
Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan opened up on the “challenge” of coaching his son after he suffered the ugly head knock, while also lamenting the team’s performance against the Titans after slumping to an 0-4 season start.
The Gold Coast broke their victory drought with a 22-14 win, while the Red V remain winless in 2026 alongside only the Sea Eagles, who sacked their coach on Friday.
Adding to the Dragons’ woes was a gut-wrenching incident involving Kyle Flanagan, who left the field on a medi-cab after colliding with teammate Hayden Buchanan.
Flanagan confirmed his son had been “taken to hospital” in the post-match press conference.
“He’s not OK – he’s been taken to hospital,” he said.
“He was unconscious for three or four minutes, someone said five minutes, so that’s a big concern.
“But he’s rang his Mum and his wife and they’re taking him just for precautionary X-rays. So he’s got feeling in his legs and movement and all that sort of stuff.
“So I just hope that it’s okay, but being unconscious for that long a period is a bit of a concern isn’t it.”
Flanagan was then asked “how tough” it was to deal with the incident as a family member before refocusing on the task at hand.
“Yeah, it was definitely a challenge,” he said.
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
Hannay speaks after first win as coach | 07:59
“But I had to get myself together and obviously regroup and know that we’ve got good medical staff and that he’d be okay. But yeah, it’s definitely a challenge.
“I haven’t had to do that before… he was talking, he’s a bit agitated. He’s one of the toughest kids you’re ever going to see.
“So he didn’t want to go in the ambulance. He preferred to sit in a car of whatever. That’s just the way he is, so it wasn’t nice to see.”
The Dragons’ No.6 was also wearing a neck brace after the ugly knock, with Flanagan saying his medical staff “don’t know” whether Kyle has suffered any serious damage.
Regardless, the injury was “no excuse” for the Red V’s loss to the Titans.
“They are NRL players that need to get on with it,” Flanagan said.
“We can’t use that as even any type of excuse. As I said, Damien (Cook) was probably out there, it is a concern. Your teammate is down, but you need to be able to get on with it.”
MORE NRL NEWS
‘KNOW WHAT IS IMPORTANT’: Te’o breaks silence on bombshell call to quit Broncos
‘SELF-DESTRUCTION’: Ricky rages as brain-melt sin bin sums up Raiders’ season
CRAWLEY: Seibold red flag we should’ve seen; blunder that started Manly chaos
‘COULDN’T SAY NO’: Great opens up on ‘whirlwind’ Manly dawn… and his ‘surprise’
STORM POACHING: Melbourne sign Dolphins flyer set to replace Bears-bound star
Fitzy celebrates extension with win | 03:29
Cook echoed his coach’s sentiment, saying: “To be honest, you never like seeing your teammates line like that. So hoping he’s all okay.
“But like Shane said, we had a job to do. We’ve got to do that for him too. He goes off and puts his body on the line every week. So we need to get on with it.
“We’re lucky that the six man bench gives us a five-eighth. So that came in good for us tonight but that wasn’t the reason why we lost tonight.
“We get all the details through the week, we did it last week and we let some silly tries in. We get changed through the week. We did it again tonight.
“And we just, as a playing group, we really need to come together and trust what we’re doing and sticking to what we’re doing to get the wins.”
Discussion about this post