Flanagan hits out at critics after gutsy Dragons win

Scott Bailey | June 28, 2025

Shane Flanagan has hit out at “unfair” criticism of his son Kyle after St George Illawarra held on for the gutsiest win of the season with a 34-20 defeat of Parramatta.

With no fit players left on the bench and with Damien Cook and late call-up Nathan Lawson both playing injured, the Dragons held on against a resurgent Eels in Wollongong on Saturday.

The hosts saw a 26-4 lead shrink to 26-20 with 21 minutes to go, with Parramatta having all the ball and looking certain to run the Dragons down.

But somehow the Dragons held on, with the key moment coming with five minutes to play when Jacob Liddle chased down a clear-running Kelma Tuilagi from behind.

Tuilagi got the ball away but a Zac Lomax offload went to ground and Valentine Holmes scooped it up to go 60 metres and score the clincher.

A late penalty goal then iced the match, with only for-and-against keeping the Dragons out of the top eight after their sixth win of the season.

“It could have gone either way, but the spirit and courage got us home,” coach Flanagan said.

Luciano Leilua hurt his quad, Hamish Stewart suffered a concussion, Toby Couchman’s season is likely over with a dislocated shoulder and Viliame Fifita hobbled off with a knee injury.

It all came after the Dragons’ best 40 minutes of the year in the first half.

David Klemmer had a monster opening stint, Cook was dangerous out of dummy-half and Holmes had one of his best games of the season while bagging a double.

Lawson also scored a double, after only being told minutes before kick off he was playing when fellow winger Christian Tuipulotu’s hamstring failed him in warm up.

The emotion in Kyle Flanagan was also clear, after the Dragons coach had labelled criticism of him as “just ridiculous” in the moments before the game.

The halfback dug into the line in the lead up to a Corey Allan try, before going over himself moments later and passionately beating the Dragons crest on his chest in celebration.

“It hasn’t been an enjoyable two weeks but we got a win so that’s all that matters.,” Shane Flanagan said.

“It’s been unfair, it’s been deadset unfair.

“It wasn’t the halves issue the last two games we lost. It had nothing to do with the halves.

“I’m not for one second saying Kyle is elite of the elite. But even though he is my son, there is no kid that tries harder than him.”

Dragons co-captain Damien Cook interjected to also hit out at social-media trolls who had bagged Kyle, insistent it was a view held by more than just his dad.

“Fans can have their opinion …  but to bash him online and the non-stop going at it,” Cook said.

“It’s online bullying, we can’t have it and won’t support it. So I was very happy to see Kyle cross the line tonight.”

Lyhkan King-Togia was also excellent, with coach Flanagan labelling it the best game of the teenage five-eighth’s career. 

Two of the Dragons’ tries came from the No.6’s well-placed kicks, while he regularly poked his nose through the line amid his six runs.

That all looked likely to amount to nothing when Lomax, Dean Hawkins and Tuilagi all crossed in the first 19 minutes after halftime.

Parramatta then looked as if they could level the scores with 17 minutes to go, only for Josh Addo Carr’s boot to have been ruled to brush the sideline in the lead up to a seemingly certain try.

“There was a tenth of millimetre in it,” Eels coach Jason Ryles said.

“The reality is we were a blade of grass away from doing it.

“We got what we deserved tonight, because of how we approached the first half.”