The St George Illawarra Dragons have moved to set a board meeting where the fate of head coach Shane Flanagan will be decided.
The club slumped to their sixth consecutive loss to start 2026 on Friday evening, falling short against the Manly Sea Eagles in Wollongong.
It's their tenth straight loss as a club dating back to the final four games of last year, with the Red V being booed off at WIN Stadium by what was a well above expected crowd.
While the club's fans have had enough, the club's board may be about to move in the same direction, with pressure on Flanagan now at fever pitch after the Dragons slumped to 16-0 in the first half, fought their way back and then eventually came up short with some awful defence during the second half.
Fox Sports revealed during the halftime break of the game between the Broncos and Cowboys that Flanagan's fate, as well as the club's overall performance, would be discussed on Tuesday at a board meeting.
If the club do move to axe Flanagan, it's likely either Michael Ennis or Dean Young, who are the assistant coaches, would take over as interim coach.
Pressure from fans applied to Flanagan, the playing group and the club's football staff led by Ben Haran will continue this week after the loss to Manly, despite a handful of changes to the team during the week.
An improved performance in some ways for the Dragons may enable Flanagan a stay of execution in the hot seat, but with games against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Sydney Roosters on Anzac Day and high flying Newcastle Knights ahead before they tackle the Penrith Panthers at Magic Round, the writing is on the wall for the struggling coach.
The playing group, who held an honest session, have been stedfast in their support of Flanagan, with Luciano Leilua telling Triple M Radio after fulltime that the performance wasn't good enough as he apologised to fans in an expletive-ridden tirade.
“Our effort is there, we just lack execution,” Leilua said.
“Like me, like what I did. I should've put it through the hands.
“F***ing oath I take it personal, I'm sorry for swearing, but pressure is a privilege. We play a game that we need to win and we're just not playing well enough to win games.
“I honestly just feel sorry for our coach and our coaching staff because they give us all the details and we're just not doing it out there.
“I feel sorry for our fans. I apologise to our fans. We're trying, we really are. This is our livelihood."
