Shane Flanagan, Ben Hunt sacked by St George Illawarra, Dragons, where Ben Hunt will play in 2025, Flanagan and Hunt relationship

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has spoken out about his relationship with former club captain Ben Hunt, saying the pair “never had a falling out”.

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The dynamic between Flanagan and Hunt has been a hot topic for much of the time they have worked together and appeared to reach a boiling point a month ago when reports emerged that the star midfielder was reluctant to return to pre-season training with the Dragons.

A few days after the announcement, the Dragons and Hunt immediately parted ways, despite the 34-year-old still having a year left on his contract.

Now Hunt is busy searching for a new club; the Broncos, Dolphins and Bulldogs are interested in his services.

Flanagan is busy searching for a replacement No. 7, but recently shared his thoughts on the fallout in a teaser video for an upcoming episode of The Bye Round podcast with James Graham.

“I never argued with Ben Hunt,” Flanagan said.

“We’ve always gotten along great, but at the end of the day I’m okay with it because I just feel like Ben wanted it and we’re comfortable with it now.

“If he came back this year, it would be hard to figure it all out… (because) we weren’t going to re-sign him for ’26. It would have been in the media for 12 months.

“So I just think, you know, at the end of the day, Ben’s happy, we’re happy. When I see Ben Hunt, I’ll shake his hand and move on.”

Flanagan’s comments may come as a shock to some fans given the past incidents.

Towards the end of the season, Flanagan was caught on camera having a tense conversation in the barn with Hunt after a loss.

Hunt then said in an interview in October that the club were “not too keen on keeping me” despite initial plans to extend my contract.

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Reports also surfaced that Hunt received a scathing review at the end of the season that included a raise to his $1 million salary.

Flanagan then implied that Hunt had reported this to the media.

“Let me be clear about the review and what was said in the review,” he told the publication. Sydney Morning Herald.

“There were three people involved in the review: myself, Dean Young and Ben. I can guarantee you that Dean Yang has not spoken to any media outlets and I have not spoken to any media outlets regarding the review.

“And what is being said is wrong. There was no discussion about Ben’s salary or anything like that. This is just complete nonsense.”

Their relationship was also not helped by Hunt urging the club to sign Clint Gutherson at five-eighth, a position played by Flanagan’s son Kyle.

Ultimately, Hunt and the Dragons had no way forward as the club officially terminated his contract on 30 October.

“This decision was not taken lightly, but we need to do what is best for the club at this time… No player, person, staff member or coach is bigger than the club,” CEO Ryan Webb said. in the statement.

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As Hunt prepares for his next (and likely final) chapter in his NRL career, he told The Sydney Morning Herald he was “relieved” the long-running Dragons saga was over.

He said he never had any problems with Flanagan, but the coach’s silence after his departure suggests otherwise.

“I haven’t heard anything from Shane and I think that says something about the way things are, but I didn’t have any drama. It got to the point where something was going to happen, and it’s true. I didn’t want to come back and train with the club in pre-season,” Hunt said. Sydney Morning Herald.

The Broncos are reportedly favorites to sign Hunt, while the Dragons are eyeing Lachlan Ilias as a potential replacement.