ST GEORGE Illawarra parted ways with coach Shane Flanagan on Monday without having an interim in place.
At a media conference in Wollongong, chairman Andrew Lancaster and CEO Tim Watsford announced a “mutual” decision for the coach to leave just months after signing a two-year extension.
But with the ANZAC game against Sydney Roosters coming up this week, the joint venture had no short term replacement in place and a training session was cancelled.
Eventually, current assistant and 2011 premeirship player Dean Young was handed the post.
Young is reported to be a contender for the fulltime job, as are Ben Hornby, Michael Ennis and Mark Riddell.
Lancaster said: “Our results on the field and our performance is not to your expectation, it is not to our expectation, and we’re clearly taking steps to address this.
“Changes have been made, and we’ll continue to evaluate changes that we need to make. We got to this position as a club, and we’ll get out of this position as a club. We are all accountable for where we are – players, coaching staff, management and the board.”
The Dragons have now lost 11 consecutive games.
Flanagan told Channel Nine: “I won’t lie, it got pretty bad – it wasn’t nice, but I know that’s part of the job,” Flanagan told Channel Nine’s Danny Weidler late Monday.
“I’m upset I didn’t get to finish the year. But I’ll be fine. I’ve just got to worry about my family.”
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