Dean Young has been appointed interim coach of the Dragons and his impact has been immediate.
Dean Young has done what former head coach Shane Flanagan could not. Drop Kyle Flanagan and elevate 19yr old Kade Reed into the halfback role.
Next, Coach Dean went medieval / Game of Thrones and got rid of his main rival sacking assistant coach Michael Ennis.
This is a new era, and Coach Deano means business. For the first time in a long time, Dragons fans have something to be excited about again.
Farewell Flanno
The last thing I want to see is the sacking of a head coach. The impact to the coach, his family, team, fans and Club is massive. Ushering in a new coach means a three-year rebuild starts to bring in the playing roster the new coach is after.
Shane Flanagan came to the Dragons as a premiership winning coach having broken the Sharkies title drought in 2016. Although there was an improvement in the first year, my opinion is Flanno was trying to follow his blueprint that had not evolved from ten years earlier.
Bringing in veteran players on long term deals like he did at the Sharks only worked because he had a leader called Paul Gallen.
Then add his blind love for his son. In the last two years, halves were dropped or not given an opportunity except for that one common denominator, his son Kyle.
I remember watching an interview with Dragons CEO Tim Watsford late last year where he stated the criticism of Kyle was not warranted that he was only playing in the halves because there was no other option. That was supposed to change this season with the arrival of Daniel Atkinson.
But no.
Then there’s the results, or lack of, 0-7 start to the season and 11 losses in a row speaks volumes for themselves.
The old quote ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’ applies here and Dean Young has been quick to make changes.
For all those who think Kyle will follow his father out the door, take a look at Premiers Brisbane Broncos.
Billy Walters was an integral part of the team despite Kevvie being shown the door. So much so, out with injury for last year’s Grand Final, Broncos’ Legend Adam Reynolds called him up on stage to help lift the trophy.
Kyle has been relegated to the bench as a utility player to cover hooker (and halves if required).
I hope Shane gets the break he deserves. It was so hard to watch him over the past four weeks.
The Dragons play the Roosters in the best club game of the season on ANZAC Day.
