Sharks launch survival plan but these are dark days for Flanno
Danny Weidler22 December 2018 — 10:12pm
It’s bad judgment or extreme arrogance depending on where you sit on the
Shane Flanaganmatter.
What is not in dispute is what the email saga will cost him and the club. The value of the final year of his contract was close to $1million and the club has been fined $800,000.
However, my information is that the Sharks have enacted a plan with their property development to ensure their long-term survival. I’ve been told the Sharks have satisfied the NRL’s questions into their financial position for next year and that there is a $9 million payment will be available to the club before the start of the season. Cronulla is also set to fight the Flanagan-related fine which was handed down during the week.
But for coach Flanagan, if there’s one thing he can take comfort from it is the regard the playing group held him in. The players have really rallied around
Kyle Flanagan– Shane’s son. The senior players at the Sharks know Kyle would be doing it tough and have made a point of bringing him in close.
Flanagan is being painted as the devil – but he is far from that. A few weeks ago over a coffee at Cronulla beach Flanagan told me a story that he later asked me not to write. It involved him being a good citizen and helping out a person who had been badly wronged. It wasn’t about saving a life, but it was an act of courage and showed him to be a thoroughly decent bloke.
I won’t repeat the story, but it’s safe to say there is a lot more to Flanagan than a man who has been stood down for a second time by the NRL. It’s why I would be surprised if he doesn’t resign from his post so the Sharks can move on and start afresh. Sharks officials would also like this to happen, but there is money at stake – every week it drags on the club is required to pay him.
This isn’t about defending Flanagan, in this instance he has done the wrong thing. The evidence against him is strong. His time in rugby league is over – at least for the foreseeable future. Fifty-plus emails to a club you are banned from having contact with will do that to you.
I am not surprised that he contacted the club. His greatest strength is also a weakness – if he is not a control freak he is a something close to it. He had two meetings with the NRL and didn’t fess up – that annoyed head office in a big way.
He was the most powerful figure at the Sharks. Flanagan helped build the Sharks’ old gym. The club is in his DNA. He couldn’t stay away.
I’m certain during the time of the ASADA investigation into the Sharks he had contact with players who were watching their professional lives flash before their eyes. There were some desperate messages from players who didn’t know how to cope with the scandal. They turned to their coach.
Flanagan himself now needs support. He shared his anguish with his friends.
He is in a far darker place right now than he was at the height of the ASADA scandal. Wednesday, the day he was deregistered, was his darkest moment.
