Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan operated bank account against club's wishes
Josh Massoud
The Daily Telegraph
August 20, 2013 8:58PM
CRONULLA was tonight hit with more controversy following revelations that coach Shane Flanagan operated a ‘High Performance Unit’ bank account against the club’s wishes.
The development came as Sharks skipper Paul Gallen was also identified as the player involved in a mis-managed third party deal that earned Cronulla a $150,000 salary cap breach in July.
Flanagans account was discovered after its details were included on an e-mail inviting directors and sponsors to a coaching luncheon at the Royal Motor Yacht Club in early February.
The coach was insulted when asked to justify the account and claimed he shut it down at the direction of former CEO Bruno Cullen.
But Cullen last night denied any knowledge of the account, telling ABCs 7:30: You just dont do things that way.
Flanagan argued the account was necessary to raise funds for gym equipment through functions and golf days - because the club did not provide enough money for the football department to compete with other teams.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal it was the second private account used at the club in recent years, with former coach Ricky Stuart operating the first version to fund team camps and equipment in 2009.
Cronullas board expressed its disapproval around the time Flanagan took over in 2010, wanting all transactions to be run through the clubs official St. George account.
But the Sharks have no record of paying for the services or expensive supplements incurred by sports scientist Steve Dank in early 2011, the period which has subjected Cronulla to ASADA investigation.
Flanagan last night denied any of Danks expenses have been met by his Westpac account, which was opened almost a year after the sports scientists departure.
He could not say when the first account was shut down, but understood Dank was willing to work free of charge.
Gallens deal was with former security provider E-Group, which paid the captain about $120,000 over three years.
Upon discovering E-Group had threatened to make the payments public amid a dispute over its service contract, Flanagan wrote a frantic e-mail to the club that was aired on last nights program.
Everyone needs to be aware that if Paul is exposed any form of inspection or scrutiny due to E-Group contract details, the club arranged all details of past contracts not Paul, Flanagans e-mail read.
