Surprising Revelation: Shane Flanagan ready to listen to offers as NRL rival set to poach him for coaching role

He is contracted at the Dragons until 2026.

An NRL club has reportedly shown interest in poaching St George Illawarra Dragons head coach Shane Flanagan as the team looks to change their current direction.

After leading the Dragons from the near-bottom of the NRL ladder to one win away from reaching the 2024 NRL Finals series, Flanagan’s tenure at the club could potentially come to a premature end.

According to Wide World of Sports, a third party is set to make contact with Flanagan’s management over the next few weeks to see if there is any interest in him leaving the Dragons to coach another team in the competition.

The surprising revelation comes despite Flanagan being contracted for another two seasons until the end of 2026, but they are hoping to lure him to exit his current deal.

The publication reports that the club hasn’t been doing particularly badly, but the committee and chief executive believe the unnamed team – that is not the Wests Tigers – needs a change of direction.

A premiership-winning coach with the Cronulla Sharks in 2016 and former international coach of North Macedonia, Flanagan has shown over various stints that he can effectively rebuild and revamp any roster that he is given.

This has been shown by turning Zac Lomax into an Origin-calibre winger and finishing in front of the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors on the ladder despite having relatively the same roster as 2023.