D-DAY has finally arrived for St George Illawarra in terms of who takes over at the helm of the rudderless Red V in 2024.
A St George Illawarra board meeting on Tuesday will take a show of hands from the eight-member board about who the next Dragons coach should be.
As of Friday last week Shane Flanagan was into $1.40 to take on one of the toughest jobs in the NRL given the way St George Illawarra is currently being run.
Watch every game of every round of the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
But there’s a view some negative media over the weekend has made a minority of the St George Illawarra board jittery about appointing the Cronulla Sharks premiership-winning coach.
Where the Dragons get themselves tied up in red tape is the way the club is set up.
Without glazing over about board room politics, the eight-member board need to be unanimous about who they want to appoint.
So it needs to be all four members from the WIN Corporation side of the board and all four members from the St George Dragons side in agreement.
Like mob bosses at a sit down, the two sides of the club don’t always see eye-to-eye and are often highly suspicious of the rival faction.
Amid the backdrop of a sold out Kogarah Oval last Saturday word went around the ground Flanagan was strongly favoured to be the new head coach for 2024.
But then as the Dragons clung on to just beat South Sydney in the closing stages of the game word also filtered around there was a rogue board member who was planning on putting up some resistance.
It’s well-known ex-Dragons CEO and current board member Peter Doust has been no fan of Flanagan getting the St George Illawarra gig in the past.
That’s why his name couldn’t even make the initial coaching short-list when the club went all-in on Jason Ryles and then got jilted at the altar.
The theory at the moment is the rogue Dragons board member who’s considering putting up resistance is not Doust.
But – crucially – they are on the Dragons side of the board.
The other two coaching candidates are premiership-winning Red V players Dean Young and Ben Hornby.
MORE NRL NEWS
QLD CONFIRMED: Triple injury blow forces changes as Slater’s Maroons squad named
WINNERS & LOSERS: Young gun’s recall as duo snubbed in Slater’s shock shake-up
NSW TEAM LIVE: Freddy’s big call as bolter wins Origin debut; star racing the clock
TALKING POINTS: FOUR new teams floated for Brooks after bombshell contract call
Slater discusses Game II Maroons squad | 12:31
So if the Dragons can’t get a show of eight hands for Flanagan, can they agree on one of their own club legends being tossed the keys?
Flanagan is the best fit for the mess that is St George Illawarra.
Experienced, hard-nosed, knows what success looks like and how to implement the framework to get the Dragons back on track.
That’s nothing against Young or Hornby who will both get a shot at being NRL head coaches at some point.
But the Dragons are such a basket case at the moment it would be cruel to burn one of these club legends by asking them to fix all the problems on the run as a rookie head coach.
The smart play is Flanagan – but as we’ve seen from all the faux-pas at St George Illawarra this year they can find a way to spectacularly stuff things up.
Sure Flanagan’s got some red pen on his resume but he’s served his time out of the game and learned from his mistakes.
In the rough and tumble world of rugby league, there are very few puritan cleanskins.
The NRL has paved the way for Flanagan to make a return. If the Dragons want to stop the current Red V rot, he’s the best solution.
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
