Former Sharks premiership winning coach Shane Flanagan is set to join Anthony Seibold as an assistant coach at the Manly Sea Eagles pending a release from the Dragons.
The Daily Telegraph reported Flanagan is poised to accept an offer from Manly to be an assistant to Seibold after finalising a release from his Dragons contract in the next 24 hours.
The three-year-deal through until the end of 2025 comes with a clasue allowing him to pursue a head coaching role after 12 months in a move that could be the springboard to getting Flanagan back into the head coaching ranks after his departure from the Sharks in 2018.
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Flanagan is expected to join former Titans assistant Jim Dymock as Seibold’s right-hand men when the replacements for sacked coach Des Hasler and his team of assistants are rubber-stamped.
Manly CEO Tony Mestrov has reportedly reached an agreement with both Flanagan and Dymock.
Flanagan is set to take up his deal and begin work with Manly next month when he returns from the World Cup.
The 56-year-old veteran of 185 NRL matches as coach of the Sharks is finalising a release from his role in recruitment with the Dragons, but it is understood the club will not stand in his way of returning to the coaching game at a rival club.
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Flanagan has struggled to return to the NRL head coaching ranks since he was deregistered by the NRL in 2018.
Manly will soon announce Seibold as their new head coach on a mooted three-year deal mirroring Flanagan and Dymock’s deals.
The Sea Eagles view Flanagan as the ideal candidate to assist Seibold in his first head coaching role since his disastrous tenure at the Broncos.
Flanagan coached the Sharks for eight seasons, but was banned from coaching in 2014 due to the club’s supplements scandal.
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He returned in 2015 winning the Sharks’ maiden title the following season, but was deregistered indefinitely in 2018 after failing to adhere to the conditions of his 2014 ban.
Flanagan was allowed to return to the NRL as an assistant and defence coach in 2019 and worked under Paul McGregor at the Dragons, before he was sacked when Anthony Griffin was brought in as coach.
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Flanagan has been working as the Dragons list management consultant since 2021 and missed out on head coaching gigs at the Tigers and Bulldogs to Tim Sheens and Cameron Ciraldo despite being interested in the positions.
With Flanagan and Seibold all but locked in, Manly will pursue Dymock as the final member of their coaching dream team.
