Kyle Flanagan & the coach

[jodragon40]

As an old coach this is what I like to see and hear from any coach about his team, win, lose or draw. Coach Flanagan love him or loath him said

" I've got a good football team". They are committed, they compete hard, and when we get it right, we can beat the top teams".

The coach could have said anything after that win, he could have self praised a bit, he could have identified certain players but no, he used the collective language that included everyone that helped win that game.

That is the sign of a coach who knows what he is doing. I'm glad we extended his contract giving him the opportunity to play in another GF in the next 3 seasons.

Just my views.

 

[st george tragic]

As an old coach this is what I like to see and hear from any coach about his team, win, lose or draw. Coach Flanagan love him or loath him said

" I've got a good football team". They are committed, they compete hard, and when we get it right, we can beat the top teams".

The coach could have said anything after that win, he could have self praised a bit, he could have identified certain players but no, he used the collective language that included everyone that helped win that game.

That is the sign of a coach who knows what he is doing. I'm glad we extended his contract giving him the opportunity to play in another GF in the next 3 seasons.

Just my views.

He also impressed me how he wasnt affraid to question the discusting ref and bunker decissions. Well done flanno stood up for his players.

 

[RedV01]

Just watching the Newcastle - Shonks game. Good start for Newcastle. Why do I bring it up? Brad Arthur probably thought his kid would be one of the best 1/2 or 5/8s in the competition. Parra fans disagreed. Brad Arthur had the sense or someone above him ordered him to move his kid on. He was still sacked I know after a long and pretty successful stint.

Can hardly believe Flanno was even allowed to sign his kid let alone play hIm in EVERY GAME in this HIGHLY UNSUCCESSFUL year.

 

[Morgan]

Kyle at unbackable odds to claim coaches award for player of the year, or whatever award the coach can give.

 

[Eric]

Kyle at unbackable odds to claim coaches award for player of the year, or whatever award the coach can give.

The issue is that there is no one better at present. I mean, it's not that Flanno is blind to the deficiencies in his game it's just he's the best available. Next year will be the time to really judge Flanno on this issue.

 

[Mug Fan]

Kyle at unbackable odds to claim coaches award for player of the year, or whatever award the coach can give.

Judging by the photos in the video room, I'd say not even in the running but anything to lay into the Flannos is ok RIGHT....

 

[Eric]

Judging by the photos in the video room, I'd say not even in the running but anything to lay into the Flannos is ok RIGHT....

Some of the cricism is unfair, IMO. And to be honest, Kyle hasn't been that bad. Tackled well, passed well, goal kicked well. Though his kicking has been bad.

 

[redv13]

Some of the cricism is unfair, IMO. And to be honest, Kyle hasn't been that bad. Tackled well, passed well, goal kicked well. Though his kicking has been bad.

It’s the easiest option for some fans to constantly blame Kyle. Guess it Kyle’s fault that alot of our forwards were injured throughout the season.

Guess it’s Kyle’s fault that we were short up front. Guess it’s Kyle’s fault that our middles didn’t lay a platform at times. Guess it’s Kyle’s fault that the outside backs were shredded with injuries at times.

I must have been watching the wrong 7 run around in cup all year as some on here would say that batman was stuck in cup and the penguin was playing 1st’s

 

[RedV01]

Some of the cricism is unfair, IMO. And to be honest, Kyle hasn't been that bad. Tackled well, passed well, goal kicked well. Though his kicking has been bad.

I'm all for positivity. I admire it because I just can't do it unless there is reason for it.

LOOK AT THE COMPETITION LADDER!!!! This is the worst the team has been since the first year of JDB being cancelled and only slightly better than that.

 

[Dragons4me]

100% agree with you Illusion. Speed, strength, endurance, agility - you name it, we lack totally in this regard. Ciraldo has lifted the Bulldogs players with all of these qualities - over a period of 2 and a bit years. Maybe Flanno will be able to attain this next year with our players. Here's hoping

I normally agree with you and value your opinion DD but I don't share your sentiments re Ciraldo. He is completely untried and his first grade squad has been handed to him on a silver plate by Gus with seemingly unlimited finances from the Laundy group. The whole Galvin thing just showed that Gus runs this team and Ciraldo was smart enough to STF up.
I'm so hoping the flogs are embarrasingly bundled out of the finals. Even more than who actually wins the GF.

 

[Dragon David]

I normally agree with you and value your opinion DD but I don't share your sentiments re Ciraldo. He is completely untried and his first grade squad has been handed to him on a silver plate by Gus with seemingly unlimited finances from the Laundy group. The whole Galvin thing just showed that Gus runs this team and Ciraldo was smart enough to STF up.
I'm so hoping the flogs are embarrasingly bundled out of the finals. Even more than who actually wins the GF.

Glad to see that your not in agreement with me on Ciraldo. Yes, Gus is the control freak. He pushed to get Galvin which in a way made things difficult for Ciraldo as Sexton was doing a good job.
I'm hoping the same Dragons4me that the Dogs get bundled out of the finals.

 

[TheRev]

Some of the cricism is unfair, IMO. And to be honest, Kyle hasn't been that bad. Tackled well, passed well, goal kicked well. Though his kicking has been bad.

I'm with you, even in that last game watching Kyle flying across for yet another individual try-saving tackle.. I cant help but think.. as much as I want creativity.. I dont want to do it if it means we give up an extra try or 2 each game due to adding a defensive hole.

The part we really need is the longer kicking game.. I thought Douieh might have done it.. Reed can do it.. but hes a long long way from week to week 1st grade, Atkinson apparently isnt too bad.. but would love a proper long distance specialist... that alone will keep you in basically every game.

We also need I think 2 (out of 5) outside backs to be x-factor weapons, so Val is 1, but we dont have another currently.. Gutho despite all the criticism is still generating a lot of our points though.. I think hes ok for 2026, but rly would like 1 more winger or ctr who can create something themselves.

 

[Dave03]

I'm with you, even in that last game watching Kyle flying across for yet another individual try-saving tackle.. I cant help but think.. as much as I want creativity.. I dont want to do it if it means we give up an extra try or 2 each game due to adding a defensive hole.

The part we really need is the longer kicking game.. I thought Douieh might have done it.. Reed can do it.. but hes a long long way from week to week 1st grade, Atkinson apparently isnt too bad.. but would love a proper long distance specialist... that alone will keep you in basically every game.

We also need I think 2 (out of 5) outside backs to be x-factor weapons, so Val is 1, but we dont have another currently.. Gutho despite all the criticism is still generating a lot of our points though.. I think hes ok for 2026, but rly would like 1 more winger or ctr who can create something themselves.

I'm sure there's a few available but even getting players like Alamoti & Daine Laurie would improve our backline imo. Alamoti has that bit of x-factor with his athleticism & surprising speed while also having genuine size & covers ctr too.

Laurie has already shown he's happy to put his body on the line with carries & defence, he could also potentially be a long term fullback or 5/8th because of his ball playing ability. Both are also available for 2026, both cover multiple positions & have been in good system with high ceilings imo.

More I think of it, I think Gutho yardage game will be less impactful next year, he's likely to get slower & even Val might slow down a tad, we have to get athleticism with speed into the backline. It's not point having speed like Sloan but being ineffective. Need speed & athleticism to get that power to be impactful.

I think we need to get a bit of youth into our backline, we've done it with our fwds already.

 

[Dave03]

CT & Suli aren't old, although both look 40 but sentiment still remains regarding athleticism & speed. Not one or the other but both.

 

[TheRev]

I'm sure there's a few available but even getting players like Alamoti & Daine Laurie would improve our backline imo. Alamoti has that bit of x-factor with his athleticism & surprising speed while also having genuine size & covers ctr too.

Laurie has already shown he's happy to put his body on the line with carries & defence, he could also potentially be a long term fullback or 5/8th because of his ball playing ability. Both are also available for 2026, both cover multiple positions & have been in good system with high ceilings imo.

Yah I'm a fan of Laurie, I think he is far too good for reserves.. he is literally Ben Barba reincarnate.. its uncanny.

Alamoti is tricky because I think right ctr is locked with Suli having 2 years still to go on contract.. that said I do hope Heidke puts genuine pressure on the position in 2026.. but I dont think there is any other position we could play Suli.. and hes on like 600k or some such according to the code sports thing so its good coin..

A Ctr who can play wing 'well' is another story though.. I think right wing is where we can improve our backline quickly.. but also considering that the chances of CT and Suli playing 27 rounds is very small.. im sure we would love to have some options.

Note: Val could however move to wing and would be a world beater for us.. but I dont think we can afford to give up what he brings us in attack... it would be a hell of a ctr coming into our squad to force that change... maybe 2027..

 

[RedV01]

It's something I really don't get. It's ok to hurl criticism of Ilias all day, every day but criticism of KF is off limits. Why is that? Well, it's not off limits for me. I could hardly believe when his Dad said, "ask other coaches", i.e. rival coaches, how good Kyle is. It shows a Dad whose loyalty to his son has gone way over the top. He should have been a good Dad and encouraged his son to get into something he was good at a long tine ago.

I know I've never said Ilias is any good. I don't know if he is better than KF or not. What I know is that Ilias and KF wasn't working. KF and LKT was even worse. So seeing how we have ended up on the competition ladder, does anyone think those who were calling for Ilias to come in for Kyle a couple a months ago were wrong? What would be the worst that could have happened? 2nd last instead of 3rd last?

 

[Eric]

I'm with you, even in that last game watching Kyle flying across for yet another individual try-saving tackle.. I cant help but think.. as much as I want creativity.. I dont want to do it if it means we give up an extra try or 2 each game due to adding a defensive hole.

The part we really need is the longer kicking game.. I thought Douieh might have done it.. Reed can do it.. but hes a long long way from week to week 1st grade, Atkinson apparently isnt too bad.. but would love a proper long distance specialist... that alone will keep you in basically every game.

We also need I think 2 (out of 5) outside backs to be x-factor weapons, so Val is 1, but we dont have another currently.. Gutho despite all the criticism is still generating a lot of our points though.. I think hes ok for 2026, but rly would like 1 more winger or ctr who can create something themselves.

I think Kyle could do a lot of things better along with every other player in the team, perhaps excepting JDB who can't do any more, but the only thing I can be really critical of is Kyle's long kicking. But even with that, is there anyone better at present?

 

[Eric]

It's something I really don't get. It's ok to hurl criticism of Ilias all day, every day but criticism of KF is off limits. Why is that? Well, it's not off limits for me. I could hardly believe when his Dad said, "ask other coaches", i.e. rival coaches, how good Kyle is. It shows a Dad whose loyalty to his son has gone way over the top. He should have been a good Dad and encouraged his son to get into something he was good at a long tine ago.

I know I've never said Ilias is any good. I don't know if he is better than KF or not. What I know is that Ilias and KF wasn't working. KF and LKT was even worse. So seeing how we have ended up on the competition ladder, does anyone think those who were calling for Ilias to come in for Kyle a couple a months ago were wrong? What would be the worst that could have happened? 2nd last instead of 3rd last?

I'm tired of talking about it, TBH but have to say, you are talking about hindsight. It's easy to say in hindsight.

 

[RedV01]

When the media piles in on St George or any of our players, the automatic reaction is to come to that players or the clubs or the teams defence. But in this case I just can't. Flanno's words about asking other (rival) coaches is still ringing in my ears.

Though I wonder if this is how things came to a head with the club taking recruitment and retention out of Flanno's hands. This time I'm gonna be positive and say I think with that taken out of his hands, he's gonna do much better by just concentrating on coaching.

 

[Dragon David]

When the media piles in on St George or any of our players, the automatic reaction is to come to that players or the clubs or the teams defence. But in this case I just can't. Flanno's words about asking other (rival) coaches is still ringing in my ears.

Though I wonder if this is how things came to a head with the club taking recruitment and retention out of Flanno's hands. This time I'm gonna be positive and say I think with that taken out of his hands, he's gonna do much better by just concentrating on coaching.

As a former coach, Daniel Anderson took over the Parramatta Eels when the club was in turmoil and guided the Eels in his first year at the club in the 2009 grand final which was "won" by the Storm but that premiership was taken away from the Storm because of historical salary cap breaches and there was that argument that the Eels should have been awarded that premiership because of the breach. In his second and final year at the Eels in 2010 - the year in which our beloved Dragons were the minor premiers and premiership winners, the club finished 12th which was way short of expectations.

There is no doubt that Daniel Anderson has an eye for talent and he will be focussing his eyes very hard I would imagine on all the talent going around the League world. He would know where the good talent already is within the Dragons club and I feel that he would have checked out overseas players as well as the other clubs talented players whose contracts would be nearly up. So looking forward to some appointments in the weeks or months ahead.

Flanno can therefore focus his attention wholly and solely on coaching the first grade team for the next 3 years. I can see some pressure being applied to him on not favouring his favourites including Kyle (although I am only meaning Kyle as the half back but I'd agree that Kyle could be the #14). Flanno's signings of the older guys l would think was to help fill the top 30 but at the same time hoping that with their experience would help with winning games. He did try to get AFB and RCG etc but to no avail so let's see how DA fares.