Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has switched up his halves tonight, with his son Kyle returning from injury at halfback and Daniel Atkinson switching to five-eighth.
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan.NRL Imagery
“Last week I thought that Kyle wasn’t there and [Atkinson] was bundled with a lot of responsibility, getting the team around the park, his kicking game, and his running game,” Flanagan tells Fox Sports’ Lara Pitt. “And we thought let’s take the pressure off him a little bit and concentrate on his running game and kicking game, and Kyle can get the team around the park.
“Hopefully it just frees Daniel up a little mentally and frees his mind to get the job done.”
Flanagan says the Dragons’ power can match Manly’s speed out wide.
“They move the footy around, they move it on play two,” he says. “We saw last week I think it was tackle two they scored a try on play two against the Dolphins. So I know pretty well what their strengths are, I’ve been there for a year, so we just need to be good and make them come out of the back end of the field, and use our power over their speed, and make sure we defend well.”