A defiant Shane Flanagan insists he’s still the best man to lead the Dragons, with the veteran coach not wishing the intense scrutiny he’s faced in recent weeks on anyone else as he looks to pick up his first win of the season on Friday night.
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The Dragons are 0-5 and were booed off the field after they were held scoreless by the Cowboys last week, with Kyle Flanagan set to return against Manly following a sickening head knock back in round four.
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“I’ve never been through this experience, but I’ve just got to battle on,” Flanagan said on Thursday.
“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.
“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.
“I’ve just got to do my best. I’m not worried about me. 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 intense scrutiny on his future comes just two weeks after Manly sacked coach Anthony Seibold, with Flanagan able to ease some of the pressure if his team can knock off the Sea Eagles in Wollongong.
The outside noise has been constant, with the 2016 premiership-winning coach accepting it comes with the territory.
“It’s the NRL. If you don’t win, it’s going to come,” he said.
“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.”
The Dragons will be without skipper Clint Gutherson (hamstring) for the crucial clash, while there’s a major switch in the halves with key recruit Daniel Atkinson moving from halfback to five-eighth.
Atkinson’s kicking game was poor against North Queensland, but his coach hopes the move to the No. 6 jersey will allow him to focus on his running game.
“As time’s gone on, we just feel that Kyle’s strength is to organise the team and get them around the park,” he said.
“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 could have made more changes to his squad this week, with the club still reeling from the sudden departures of stars like Ben Hunt and Zac Lomax which has set them back.
The juniors coming through have already shown they have long futures in the game, with Flanagan backing his son to take control of their attack after overcoming the serious head knock.
“He’s our best halfback in the club and he competes hard,” he said.
“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.”
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