Johnathan Thurston admits he was surprised to see the Dragons extend coach Shane Flanagan and believes it could cost the club one of their favourite sons.
Despite still having a year to run on his contract, Flanagan signed a fresh two-year deal last week, keeping him in charge of the joint venture until the end of 2028.
It completes a busy few months for St George Illawarra off the field, with the club also bringing in Tim Watsford as chief executive and Daniel Anderson as head of recruitment.
While the decision ensures stability for the Red V as the club attempts to return to finals football and attract marquee talent, it could have other repercussions.
Flanagan’s contract blocks the path of Dean Young landing the top job in the near future, with reports from The Sydney Morning Herald indicating that the premiership-winning player has a get-out clause that could see him leave the Dragons.
Young is signed until the end of 2027 to work under Flanagan, but is free to leave if a head coaching role presents itself at another club.
Speaking on Nine’s Wide World of Sports on Sunday morning, league great Thurston was quizzed about the decision to re-sign Flanagan and what it could mean for the Saints.
“Yeah, a little bit [surprised],” the Cowboys legend said.
“They’ve got Dean Young as an assistant there. I know he’s got aspirations of being a head coach and he’s a St George Illawarra legend.
“It was an interesting decision by the board.”
Young is in his second stint as assistant at the Dragons and has already been passed over for the head coaching position previously when the club signed Anthony Griffin.
It led Young to move north to join the Cowboys for two seasons, where he received plenty of praise for his work ethic and defensive mindset.
The 41-year-old hasn’t been linked with any other NRL teams in recent months, but would be in the mix should a spot open up in the off-season.
He has a close relationship with Wayne Bennett from their time together at the Dragons and the legendary coach has spoken glowingly about Young on numerous occasions.
Former teammate Ben Hornby is currently the assistant to Bennett at South Sydney.
St George Illawarra have had another up-and-down season, with wins over the past fortnight against the Raiders and Sharks likely not enough to book them a finals spot.
Thurston concedes the tight losses earlier in the year will be haunting Flanagan.
“I think he’d be ruing some of the chances the team have missed – they’ve had a lot of close matches that they haven’t been able to convert,” he said.
“The footy that they’ve played the last couple of weeks, their fans will be going where has that been all year? It’s very unfortunate for the Dragons fans.”
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