Shane Flanagan has been sacked by the St George Illawarra Dragons early on Monday morning, with the club bosses to hold an emergency meeting in Wollongong to tell the fans that they are looking for a new head coach.
The premiership-winning coach may still lead the Red V in the historic Anzac Day clash against the Sydney Roosters, before the club heads into a bye, but his time leading the team is formally over. He has been in charge of the struggling joint venture since 2024.
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Perhaps worse is that the Dragons had just re-signed Flanagan late last year. Back then, he had the Red V closely challenging for finals before the extension. Following St George Illawarra’s decision to extend him through to 2028, he then guided the team to a record-setting loss streak, falling to eleven straight defeats between August 2025 and this month.
Flanagan had yet to start the two-year extension at all (that new contract was for 2027 and 2028), and the Dragons will now have to pay out some serious coin to get the historically bad head coach off their books.
The 60-year-old is now the second coach to be sacked this season, after the Manly Sea Eagles gave Anthony Seibold the boot last month. The Sea Eagles have since returned to winning ways and are now on a three-game winning streak, with interim boss Kieran Foran yet to lose a game.
The Sporting Base understands that South Sydney assistant and former Dragons captain Ben Hornby and former Eels and current Leeds coach Brad Arthur have been touted as top options. Dean Young, who has been coaching alongside Flanagan as an assistant, was liked once upon a time, but his major involvement in the eleven defeats has soured that option.
St George Illawarra most recently lost to close rivals South Sydney on Saturday, for their seventh loss of the year. After the defeat, Flanagan said, “Of course, it puts pressure on. It puts me and the club under pressure.
“We’re not winning footy games, and I understand that. It’s a business of winning, and we’re not winning.”
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“I get to work every day, and all I can do is do my best to prepare the players the best I can, and if it doesn’t work and they decide to make another decision, well, I’ve just got to live with it,” the now-sacked Dragons coach said.
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To the end, Flanno retained the support of the playing group, who kept saying they wanted to turn it around for him.
Captain Damien Cook last said, “He’s done everything he can. It’s up to us.”
