Front-runner Flanagan could be a loss as the Dragons begin voting for their next coach TOMORROW.

D-DAY has finally arrived in St George Illawarra on who will take the helm of the rudderless Red V in 2024.

The eight-member board will show their hand on who should be the next Dragons coach at a St George Illawarra board meeting on Tuesday.

On Friday last week, Shane Flanagan fell to $1.40 to land one of the toughest jobs in the NRL, given the way St George Illawarra is currently being run.

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But at the weekend, there is a perception that some negative media outlets were outraged by the appointment of a minority of the St George Illawarra council as the premiership-winning coach of the Cronulla Sharks.

Where the Dragons are tied to the red ribbon is the way the club is formed.

Without hiding about boardroom politics, the eight-member board must be unanimous about who it wants to appoint.

Therefore, all four members of the board of WIN Corporation and all four members of the St George Dragons side must be in agreement.

Like sitting mob bosses, the two sides of the club don’t always see eye to eye and are often highly suspicious of the opposing faction.

Against the backdrop of a sold-out Kogarah Oval last Saturday, Flanagan was strongly backed to be the new head coach for 2024.

But then, when the Dragons clung on to beat South Sydney in the latter stages of the game, he too was filtered out, a rogue board member plotting some resistance.

Former Dragons chief executive and current board member Peter Dust has not been a fan of Flanagan getting the St George Illawarra gig in the past.

That’s why his name didn’t even make the initial coaching list when the club signed Jason Riles and then got upset at the altar.

Currently, according to the theory, the rogue Dragons council member who is considering the resistance is not Dust.

But most importantly, they are on the Dragons side of the board.

The other two coaching candidates are Premier League-winning Red V players Dean Young and Ben Hornby.

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So, if the Dragons can’t turn up eight hands for Flanagan, could they agree to throw in the keys to one of their club legends?

Flanagan is the best fit for St George Illawarra.

Experienced, tough, knows what success looks like and how to implement the foundation to get the Dragons back on track.

That’s nothing against Young and Hornby, who will get a chance to become NRL head coaches at some point.

But with the Dragons now looking like a basket case, it would be cruel to burn one of the club’s legends by asking him to fix all the problems in his run as a rookie head coach.

Clever play – Flanagan – but as we’ve seen with all of the bogeys at St George Illawarra this year, they can find a way to stuff things up spectacularly.

Sure, Flanagan has a red pen on his resume, but he’s spent time away from the game and learned from his mistakes.

Puritan purists are few and far between in the rough and tumble world of rugby league.

The NRL has paved the way for Flanagan to give back. If the Dragons want to stop the current Red V rat, he is the best solution.

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