KIERSTEN DUKE: Shane Flanagan’s attack on St George NRL half-back Lachlan Ilias showed poor leadership

“Too little too late” is a phrase that’s often thrown around in failing relationships, but St George fans might find it has never been truer of the fractured relationship between their coach and half-back.

Shane Flanagan hanging out Lachlan Ilias to dry after the Dragons’ heartbreaking loss to the Rabbitohs was nothing short of pathetic.

As a leader of young men the coach can’t always be the nice guy, but the post-match press conference is no longer a place where coaches can flay their players in the vain hope it will provide the motivation they think it will.

Ilias has just come back from a serious injury and is still finding his feet at a new club so for Flanagan to tell reporters to “make their own assessment” of the 24-year-old’s performance may not have been calculated, but it showed extremely poor judgement from a supposedly experienced coach.

The whole presser was uncomfortable to watch from the moment Flangan sat down looking like an angry emoji ready to explode. I thought at one point I could see steam coming out of his ears.

His comment about Illias made my blood boil. Sorry Flano but you are aware you’re the coach? You have a player coming off the back of a serious injury, with a short pre-season and you’re throwing him to the wolves like that?

So much for leading by example and being the class act you want your team to follow. I’ve seen babies spit the dummy less.

It’s been reported that Flano has since called Ilias to apologise, but I can’t imagine the apology was well received after Lachie copped a tsunami of criticism online following his coach’s comments.

How awkward would that first training session this week have been for Ilias knowing you need to improve, and your coach doesn’t support you and publicly slams you. I’d be mortified.

Flangan’s meltdown is the latest in a long line of NRL coaches losing it. Former Dragons Nathan Brown infamously slapped Trent Barrett on the sideline in 2003, Former Manly coach Des Hasler ripped a door off a hinge in 2007 and Craig Bellamy screamed at Cameron Munster through headphones from the coach’s box so loudly you could almost hear it on TV in 2020.

Ricky Stuart is the other current coach who is never afraid to use his post-match press conferences to let his players know how he feels with Xavier Savage the latest to feel his wrath.

Ilias probably needs more support than most young half-backs after being seriously injured playing for Souths before being cut loose last year.

In April Ilias was a victim of a nasty mid-air tackle during a NSW Cup which lead to a broken tibia.

It was a long road to recovery with the Sydney boy facing a gnarly leg surgery including plates, screws and rods as he was sidelined for six months.

The half-back showed bucket loads of resilience and maturity to make it back to NRL level before being let go by the Rabbitohs to head slightly further south of Sydney to join his teammate Damien Cook at the Dragons.

A fresh start was on the cards for the youngster. It was a chance to put the horror season at Souths behind him and really focus on playing his best footy.

You can imagine his confidence wasn’t exactly at an all-time high but despite this, he would’ve been hopeful.

Now unfortunately for Dragons fans, despite showing promise in trial games, the start to the 2025 season has been nothing short of frustrating.

On Saturday they faced an injury riddled Rabbitohs and lost 24- 25 to a torpedo field goal by another rising star, 23-year-old half-back Jamie Humphreys, in the final moments of the game.

So Flano, while it’s understandable to have strong feelings after two losses and to want to hold your team accountable, but in future let’s try and lead by example instead of throwing a young player under the bus because of your lack of leadership.