Sharks concerned for Flanagan
Deeply concerned Cronulla chief executive Barry Russell has pledged to support Shane Flanagan as the shattered mentor weighs up whether to fight for his NRL coaching career.
Flanagan has until January 31 to appeal a notice of intention to deregister him from the game after being accused of communicating with the club while banned in 2014.
‘‘This is an extremely traumatic thing to happen to a person,’’ Russell said when asked about Flanagan’s welfare.
‘‘He is a person. He’s got so much passion for this game and club, for his wife, for his children, and we need to rally around him as much as we can and support him.’’
The development comes months after the NRL integrity unit began investigations into the club following Russell’s decision to self-report salary-cap irregularities stemming from three years ago.
But Russell insists he has no regrets for self-declaring potential cap breaches before he took the helm in February this year, which has now inadvertently resulted in Flanagan’s apparent dismissal.
Sharks officials co-operated with NRL investigators by handing over computer servers, but Russell didn’t realise the examination would dig prior to the 2015 season.
‘‘I had to self-report. If you haven’t got your integrity, you haven’t got anything. And I would do the same thing again,’’ Russell said.
‘‘If you’ve done the wrong thing, you have to suffer the consequences. No one is bigger than the game and no one is bigger than the club.’’
Flanagan is known to be confused about the guidelines of his 2014 suspension.
Despite being instructed not to
Paul Gallen on Shane Flanagan