Canterbury Bulldogs director of football Phil Gould has fired back at rumours linking halfback Kyle Flanagan with an early exit from Belmore.
On contract until the end of the 2023 season, Flanagan was dropped for the club's Round 9 clash with the St George Illawarra Dragons.
That came just a week after he was forced to trade the number seven jersey for the number six in first grade, with Matt Burton moving into the halfback role.
Instead, Flanagan found himself playing dummy half in reserve grade for the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon, putting in a strong performance.
Rumours have persisted suggesting he may end up at the Sea Eagles immediately, with News Corp's Phil Rothfield saying on Monday morning that the deal was done despite press conference denials after both the Manly Sea Eagles' loss to the Gold Coast Titans, and the Bulldogs' win over the Dragons from Anthony Seibold and Cameron Ciraldo respectively.
Speaking on Channel 9's 100% Footy, Gould said no one has talked to him about Flanagan being a possible exitee from the club.
"Nil. Zero. None. Zip. Nada," Gould said flatly when quizzed whether he had an approach for Flanagan.
"Haven't had one approach. Haven't had anyone call me about it whatsoever. This is just another bit of scuttlebutt in the media. I don't know what has brought the story up.
"Kyle Flanagan was confused because he rang the coach [Cameron Ciraldo] on Saturday night the first time he saw the report so I know absolutely nothing about this."
Asked whether Flanagan wanted to leave, Gould said he was unsure given no one has talked to the half, while also revealing he believed the son of Shane Flanagan, who is currently an assistant coach at the Manly Sea Eagles, would make a good dummy half.
"We haven't even spoken to him. It's not even an issue," Gould said when asked if Flanagan wanted to leave.
"He didn't make the side this week. He played hooker in reserve grade. I thought he played really well. I always thought he was going to make a good hooker. He had one of his better games of the season. In and out of the first grade side, that can happen to any footballer. He has been in the first-grade side for the last 30 weeks playing halfback. Coach made a change, simple as that.
"But where all this other stuff has come from, I have no idea. No one has spoken to me. People are reporting deals are done and it's effective immediately. I don't know how they are going to do that without talking to me, and no one has spoken to me whatsoever."
Channel 9's Danny Weidler said on the show that no deal is done, but that Manly could be interested in securing a half as their 30th spot.
"He played hooker in reserve grade and apparently did pretty well for the Bulldogs," Weidler said on 100% Footy.
"All the talk has been about him potentially leaving the Bulldogs and joining Manly.
"I asked Manly today whether any sort of deal had been done. I spoke to Tony Mestrov. He said no deal has been done, but they have a spot in their top 30. They are interested in getting a halfback to cover for [Daly] Cherry-Evans and obviously [Josh] Schuster has had his issues as well."
