“I worry about Kyle”: Flanagan’s heartfelt assessment of son’s critics

There is no denying it, rugby league fans can be quite brutal at times, arguably, the most brutal fans in Australia.

With the sport as prominent as ever on social media, discussion has increased, with fans more commonly voicing their opinions.

But with fans more active on socials, so too are players, who are constantly digesting the comments, both good and bad.

One player who faced a lot of negativity last season was Kyle Flanagan.

Playing at halfback for a team that finished 15th, he received almost all of the criticism, with fans annoyed at his inability to manage games or lead the team's attack.

But his coach, and dad, Shane Flanagan, feels the criticism is completely unwarranted.

“One thing I know with Kyle is he's busted his arse off every day. He was one of our four or five best players last year and Dean Young will tell me when he's not playing well,” Flanagan told Matty Johns in an unaired Fox Sports interview.

“My assistant coaches this year, Mick Ennis and Dean (Young), we'll put the best team on the paddock and if Kyle's not one of them?

“Well, he won't play, but I can guarantee you he'll be hard to get out of there because he's going to work hard.

“I definitely prefer him playing in my team. When he was at the Roosters, we had a really good one year there. They won the World Cup Challenge, he was with Keary and had a good year.

“Then the year he had at the Bulldogs wasn't that great and I used to worry a lot about him there, but I've sort of got control of him now…. but it's tough, especially when there's probably a fair bit of undeserved criticism.”

Flanagan's main concern though, is the rest of his family, conceding his wife and daughter don't take the criticism well.

“Not real good because she (Kyle's mum) sees how much he (Kyle) tries and how hard he works. But she's been around for a fair long time as well so she'll get on with it.” Flanagan said.

“I'm not worried about me. I worry about Kyle, he's got a wife, a child, a young baby and I worry about his sisters and his mum.

“They see things and read things. That's what hurts me. I know that hurts Kyle as well. It doesn't worry me, I can get on with it. I've been in this business for a while.

Kyle will line up for the St George Illawarra Dragons at five-eighth for their season opener this Sunday in Las Vegas at 3:30 PM AEDT.