GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 28: Josh Dugan of the Sharks leaves the field injured during the round eight NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and Cronulla Sharks at Cbus Super Stadium on April 28, 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Sharks star Josh Dugan will not play in Friday night's Elimination Final clash after failing to overcome a shoulder injury.

It is a big loss for Cronulla who are already without key forward Wade Graham for the rest of the season due to a ruptured ACL.

Dugan was reduced to tears at a media session on Tuesday after stating the public had misconstrued bad boy perception of him, opening up on the mental health demons he had faced.

“[I] wasn’t expecting it. [It’s] pretty delicate. We’ve sort of been working with Josh but we didn’t expect that,” Flanagan said.

“We’re dealing with him. It’s a delicate situation and we need to deal with it in the right manner. Not through the media. Maybe [Tuesday] was a good thing for Josh to get it off his chest… he’s been ok.

“The whole club has [rallied around him]. With all our players we’ve got to make sure they’re ok. Sometimes we think they’re big and strong but sometimes we need to look a little bit deeper.”

Flanagan urged fans to be be respectful of Dugan.

“Josh, we’ve all said, has made his mistakes,” he said.

“He’s got to stand up to those. He’s a young man that is trying to do his best and is working hard behind the scenes and we’ll continue to work hard with him.”

Comments are closed.