FORMER Cronulla Sharks head coach Shane Flanagan has made an admission about potentially coaching in Super League.
Flanagan was assistant coach for a spell at the Castleford Tigers back when Stuart Raper was head coach in 1997 and had been linked with a move to Super League in 2022.
But, the current Manly Sea Eagles number two had no intention of making the move to the UK and believes his future lies in the NRL – and that a number one coaching job won’t be too far away in Australia’s most prized league.
“I’ve been to the UK when I was with Castleford alongside Stuart Raper and I enjoyed that a lot. I’ve been back over a couple of times with the Sharks for the World Club Challenge,” Flanagan told League Express.
“I then went over there to the UK for the World Cup with PNG and I did enjoy the experience.
“However, I’d like to think I’d get a job here in the NRL first before even looking abroad.
“I’m an assistant coach at Manly and I’m enjoying it but I think I will get an NRL job here sooner rather than later.”
Flanagan does, of course, have a history in the NRL, winning the 2016 Grand Final as head coach of the Sharks against the Melbourne Storm.
In doing so, the 57-year-old became Cronulla’s first boss to win the Premiership.
Flanagan has also had his fair share of controversy. He was suspended from his head coaching role in 2013, following a year-long investigation into the Sharks’ supplements program carried out during the 2011 NRL season.
Then in December 2018, Flanagan was de-registered as a coach immediately for failing to adhere to the conditions of his suspension in 2014.
The NRL integrity unit discovered fifty emails exchanged between Flanagan, the club department and the football department which broke the strict conditions of his suspension.
The 57-year-old was told to have no contact or involvement with the Sharks during his ban, with Cronulla being fined $800,000 as a result.
Flanagan was allowed to return to the NRL from September 2019, but couldn’t become a head coach until 2022.
He is now assistant coach at the Manly Sea Eagles.
