St George Illawarra Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has defended the development of young gun Loko Pasifiki Tonga amid reports surfacing during the week that he requested to negotiate with rival clubs.
The Dragons came under fire from his manager, Craig Clifton, who reportedly wrote a letter to the club requesting that his client should seek other opportunities because of the limited time given to develop his game at NRL level.
The Red V denied the request made by Clifton to have Pasifiki Tonga look elsewhere, keeping him at the Dragons until the end of 2027.
Pasifiki Tonga played 10 NRL games for the Dragons last year before returning from a neck injury scare last week, where he dominated in NSW Cup against the Sea Eagles.
Flanagan faced the media at their Wollongong HQ, where he explained to Fox Sports the reasonings for the towering enforcer's omission from the side.
“Loko is contracted here and I think from my perspective is that if we look back, Loko was taken away in an ambulance from training three or four weeks ago and we had major concerns that he'd hurt himself,” Flanagan said to Fox Sports at the media conference.
“He a bit sore around the neck and shoulders and so on and then NSW Cup had a bye. The intentions were always to get Loko match fit and play him in the NRL … He played really well in NSW Cup last week then you see him named in our 19.
“I signed Loko, I re-signed Loko, I've got a high opinion of him, so some of the commentary around it is, I feel is pretty unfair because as a club we value him and he's a 20-year-old front rower we're looking after.”
The timing of the release request has added salt to the wound, with Eels confirming on Friday that Jaydn Su'A has signed with the Parramatta Eels for next year.
“Jaydn decided he wanted to go elsewhere. These things happen in rugby league and we wish Jaydn well,” Flanagan added.
“I'm not saying we're just going to move on and we're not disappointed. We are disappointed that he's gone, but we've got some young kids coming through.
“Jaydn rang me straight away and told me about it, and as I said, while you can be disappointed, you've got understand these players have a short career and they're going to make their decisions, and he's made a decision to move on.”
With Pasifiki Tonga expected to remain at the Dragons and soon to be integrated into the NRL side after his injury scare, it's a positive update for fans.
Despite starting zero and six and pressure mounting on the coach to turn their season around, Flanagan assured he is still the right man to bring the Red V back to its glory days and denied any claims of an internal conflict amongst the playing group.
"We haven't lost the dressing room. We had a good training session today. We're in good meetings. I've got good relationship with all my players,” he said.
”There hasn't been any fallout with Loko. I understand sometimes that players feel a bit frustrated if they're not playing but we'll deal with it and get on with it.”
The Dragons will be out with a point to prove when they face the South Sydney Rabbitohs, featuring former fullback Matt Dufty, on Saturday afternoon.
