Kyle Flanagan was released from the hospital at 2 am Monday morning following a frightening head clash with teammate Hayden Buchanan during Sunday night's loss.

According to Danny Weidler from Channel 9, Flanagan was unconscious for up to five minutes after the collision.

He was taken from the field on a stretcher in a neck brace before being transported to the hospital by ambulance. 

The club made a statement on Monday morning confirming he has been cleared of any fractures. 

"St George Illawarra Dragons five-eighth Kyle Flanagan has been cleared of any serious injury following scans at hospital overnight," they shared.

"Flanagan was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital as a precaution after sustaining a heavy concussion and potential neck injury. Thankfully, imaging has confirmed no structural damage.

"He will continue to be monitored by club medical staff under NRL concussion protocols regarding the return-to-play timeline and is travelling home with the team today."

The incident cast a shadow over the Dragons' 22–14 loss to the Gold Coast Titans, leaving the club still searching for its first win of the season.

Adding to the emotional weight of the situation, Dragons coach Shane Flanagan was forced to continue leading his side while his son was being treated following the sickening collision.

Post-match, he admitted the severity of the situation was deeply concerning.

“He's not OK – he's been taken to hospital,” he said in the post-match press conference.

“He was unconscious for three or four minutes, someone said five minutes, so that's a big concern.

“But he's rang his Mum and his wife and they're taking him just for precautionary X-rays. So he's got feeling in his legs and movement and all that sort of stuff.

“So I just hope that it's okay, but being unconscious for that long a period is a bit of a concern isn't it?”

Despite the distressing circumstances, Coach Flanagan said he had no choice but to refocus on the match.

“Yeah, it was definitely a challenge,” he said on the reality of continuing to coach his side after his son was taken from the field in a gut-wrenching accident.

“But I had to get myself together and obviously regroup and know that we've got good medical staff and that he'd be okay. But yeah, it's definitely a challenge.

“I haven't had to do that before... he was talking, he's a bit agitated. He's one of the toughest kids you're ever going to see.

“So he didn't want to go in the ambulance. He preferred to sit in a car of whatever. That's just the way he is, so it wasn't nice to see.”

Coach Flanagan was firm that the incident could not be used as an excuse for the result.

“They are NRL players that need to get on with it,” the Coach said about not using the incident as an excuse for the loss.

“We can't use that as any type of excuse. As I said, Damien (Cook) was probably out there; it is a concern. Your teammate is down, but you need to be able to get on with it.”

Dragons captain Damien Cook echoed those sentiments, stressing the importance of professionalism despite the emotional toll.

“But like Shane said, we had a job to do. We've got to do that for him, too. He goes off and puts his body on the line every week. So we need to get on with it.

“We're lucky that the six-man bench gives us a five-eighth. So that came in good for us tonight, but that wasn't the reason why we lost tonight.

“We get all the details throughout the week. We did it last week, and we let some silly tries in. We get changed throughout the week. We did it again tonight.

“And we just, as a playing group, we really need to come together and trust what we're doing and stick to what we're doing to get the wins.”

While relief surrounds Kyle Flanagan's release from the hospital, his return to the field remains uncertain.

Coach Flanagan indicated the five-eighth is expected to be sidelined for a “considerable amount of time,” dealing a further blow to a Dragons side already struggling to find form early in the season.