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Why Flanagan believes new co-captains will take Dragons to an 'extra level'
Charles Goodsir • January 14th, 2025 1:12 pm
St George Illawarra Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has praised the off-season impact of newly appointed co-captains Clint Gutherson and Damien Cook.
The Dragons exceeded expectations in 2024 but ultimately missed out on a finals berth with a string of lacklustre performances to end the season.
Flanagan has admitted there was a lack of experience and leadership within the roster and recruited accordingly with the signings of Gutherson, Cook and 2016 premiership winner Valentine Holmes.
However, it’s the co-captains in Cook and Gutherson that Flanagan believes will make a significant difference for the Dragons in 2025 as they hunt a finals spot for the first time since 2018.
“They are leaders both on and off the field,” Flanagan told SEN 1170.
“Their attitude, experience and the way they compete is starting to rub off on the rest of the players.
“They’ve been fantastic during November, December and now into January. They are only going to get better now that they are captains.
“They sort of knew they were going to be captains and I certainly pushed them into that.
“Now that they’ve been rubber-stamped, they should take us to an extra level.”
The Dragons were one of the more active players during the November signing period and acquired former South Sydney halfback Lachlan Ilias to replace former skipper Ben Hunt.
Ilias is coming off a torrid 2024 campaign in which he was dropped from the Rabbitohs’ first grade side before a sickening knee injury in the NSW cup which ended his year.
Flanagan is confident the 24-year-old will thrive alongside halves partner Kyle Flanagan.
“Ilias has just had his first main session with the group,” Flanagan added.
“It was a pretty nasty injury. He’s had a rod inserted into his lower leg and it obviously takes some time (to heal).
“He’s done a lot of running and training away from the team (over the Summer) and Monday was the first session he did with the entire team.
“It was great to see and he’s got a month now before he needs to worry about opposition. It will be enough time for him and he’s looking good.
“He’s a steady defender and has got a good kicking game so I think he will fit into the side really well.”
The Dragons host the Bulldogs in Round 1 on Saturday, March 8 in Kogarah.
