Canterbury playmaking option Kyle Flanagan has welcomed the prospect of playing under his father and former Cronulla premiership steward, Shane.
Following Trent Barrett's exit from Belmore, after the bottom-placed Bulldogs were humbled by fellow strugglers Newcastle during Magic Round, Flanagan senior was content to throw his hat in the ring to take the coaching reins.
"I'd love to do the job. I want to get back into coaching at NRL level. I think I could do a good job there," Shane was quoted byย Wide World of Sports.
Still, with the former Bulldogs junior yet to be contacted by the club's kingmaker, Phil Gould, the 56-year-old explained that the ball was yet to begin rolling to get him on the road back to leading an NRL outfit.
"Gus is the one I need to talk to, which I'll do in time. He's got my number so if he wants to fast-track something that's pretty easy. But over the next week or two I'll contact Gus and just go through what's going to be the process," Flanagan added.
In spite of no official word coming from Bulldogs HQ, Kyle claimed bringing his father into the picture would act as the catalyst for revitalising his stagnating career.
โItโs always something that we like doing,โ Flanagan told News Corp about working alongside Shane.
โWe both love rugby league.
โBut I have to be careful with my words here.
โDadโs definitely keen to get back into the coaching arena, but Iโm just focused on my role here. Focused on playing well each week and giving a bit of cheek at home.โ
Shane too touched on the prospect of linking up with his offspring for the first time since the pair were both with Cronulla in 2018.
"I coached Kyle for two or three years at the Sharks... I brought Matty Moylan in and Chad Townsend was the current half at that stage, after James Maloney left," Shane stated.
"At that stage, Kyle probably wasn't ready to play first grade and I had no problem bringing someone in."
The recently appointed coaching director for the Papua New Guinean international side also suggested that there would be no nepotism on his watch should he be given the Bulldogs role.
"He (Kyle) made his debut back in 2018 and played some games here and there between '18 and '19, but if he's not the best halfback in the club (at the Bulldogs)... he doesn't play. And Kyle knows that himself," Shane added.
"Just on Kyle โ you haven't seen anything that he can do at the moment. I think he may have actually gone a little bit backwards over the last 18 months for different reasons. But he's a better player than what he's showing at the moment. I know he can compete really hard just in the right environment."
Flanagan has not coached at first-grade level since his tenure with the Sharks came to an end after being deregistered by the league in December of 2018.
Canterbury is currently being led by club legend Mick Potter in an interim role and failed to gain a win in the 58-year-old's first game back at the kennel, going down to Wests 36-22 on Friday night at Leichhardt.
