Watch Matty Johns go Face to Face with St. George-Illawarra Dragons coach Shane Flanagan on Fox League at 7:30pm AEDT on Thursday!

Former premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan has exposed the emotional toll and backlash both he and his family have received since beginning to coach his son at the Dragons.

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Flanagan opened up to Matty Johns on the impact of the “undeserved criticism” Kyle endures as he prepares to wear the No.6 jersey in the Dragons’ Las Vegas clash with the Bulldogs.

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Both coach Shane and Kyle have received plenty of online backlash since linking up together at the Dragons in 2024, finishing in 11th and 15th in their last two seasons.

During that season, Kyle’s consistent presence in the team has sparked a wave of online abuse — which Flanagan believes is completely unwarranted.

He also explained his assistant coaches, former players with pedigree, back the decision to play him in one of the most crucial position on the field.

Matty Johns sits down with Shane Flanagan.Source: FOX SPORTS

“One thing I know with Kyle is he’s busted his arse off every day. He was one of our four or five best players last year and Dean Young will tell me when he’s not playing well,” Flanagan said.

“My assistant coaches this year, Mick Ennis and Dean (Young), we’ll put the best team on the paddock and if Kyle’s not one of them?

“Well, he won’t play, but I can guarantee you he’ll be hard to get out of there because he’s going to work hard.

“I definitely prefer him playing in my team. When he was at the Roosters, we had a really good one year there. They won the World Cup Challenge, he was with Keary and had a good year.

“Then the year he had at the Bulldogs wasn’t that great and I used to worry a lot about him there, but I’ve sort of got control of him now…. but it’s tough, especially when there’s probably a fair bit of undeserved criticism.”

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The so-called criticism of the pair has been well documented over the last year in particular, including a situation where the NRL’s integrity unit was alerted to alleged abusive rants.

When asked about the wave of criticism, Shane was more worried about his family than himself, specifically how his wife handles the feedback her husband and son receive.

“Not real good because she (Kyle’s mum) sees how much he (Kyle) tries and how hard he works. But she’s been around for a fair long time as well so she’ll get on with it.” Flanagan said.

“I’m not worried about me. I worry about Kyle, he’s got a wife, a child, a young baby and I worry about his sisters and his mum.

“They see things and read things. That’s what hurts me. I know that hurts Kyle as well. It doesn’t worry me, I can get on with it. I’ve been in this business for a while.

“Sometimes you got to use that (the criticism and commentary) as a plus because that’s money to the game.

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“Eventually that’s siphoned through to the players and clubs. We’re such a big game these days, but they’re still that personal.”

Flanagan also spoke about how much more conscious he is around the mental health of his young players, particularly after what his family has experienced.

“I’m really conscious of even players that don’t get picked and making sure that their mental health and their family and everyone’s on board because it’s a tough sport.” Flanagan added.

“Some people out there can be pretty nasty as well, so I’d hate to see any young footballer with mental health issues because of social media and so on.”

The Dragons will begin their 2026 campaign against the Bulldogs from 3:30pm AEDT Sunday March 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, on Fox League.