- Stunning comments have been made on recent podcast
Roosters great Luke Keary and England legend James Graham have taken aim at the St George Illawarra Dragons, hours after the club parted ways with Shane Flanagan.
Keary and Graham have slammed the Red V on The Bye Round Podcast, and ridiculed the way the joint venture handled the sacking on Monday morning.
Both chairman Andrew Lancaster, and chief executive Tim Watsford fronted up to an impromptu media conference and revealed St George Illawarra and Flanagan had parted ways in a mutual agreement.
The decision came only after the club suffered it’s worst start to an NRL season, a winless streak that stretches back 11 matches to the 2025 season.
‘This club is a mess. There’s no other way to explain it, and I don’t think this (the club’s tough run) is over,’ Keary said.
‘This isn’t over because the press conference this morning reeked of just … crap.
Luke Keary (pictured) has torched the St George Illawarra Dragons officials
Former Dragons star James Graham (pictured) has also gone after his old club
Shane Flanagan (pictured) and St George Illawarra have parted ways in a mutual agreement
Dragons Chairman Andrew Lancaster (left) and Dragons CEO Tim Watsford (right) address the media during the NRL St George Illawarra Dragons press conference
The announcement by Lancaster came just moments before he pointed the finger at the mainstream media, for the alleged negative treatment of the club.
His rhetoric has since been torched by Keary, who questioned what the commentary actually meant.
‘That presser was to have a go at people in the media,’ Keary said.
‘[Lancaster said] the coverage of this club has been poor. Readers and viewers and listeners deserve better. Well go on, say what you think has been poor.’
Graham, who pulled on the St George Illawarra jersey on 51 occasions, also went off on his former team.
‘No one has been unfair. Nobody has been unfair in their coverage. You know what would be a disservice to them [the fans]? To polish this turd.,’ Graham claimed.
‘If you tried to talk about the positives … [like] the brand new, snazzy Centre of Excellence. That’s brilliant.
‘No listener, no viewer wants to hear that. Stop dodging the question.’
Keary also questioned how an interim coach had not already been appointed, with assistants Dean Young and Michael Ennis waiting in the wings, while former Dragon and South Sydney assistant Ben Hornby has also been linked.
‘The translation is, there’s two sides that need to make a decision, and they can’t agree,’ Graham replied.
‘One wants Ennis and one doesn’t, one wants Young and one doesn’t.’
Graham said the club could opt to avoid the obvious candidates altogether and chose a third option in a compromise to appease both sides of the merger club.
Former Dragons great and current NRLW assistant coach Mark ‘Piggy’ Riddell has been floated as a possible interim option.
The club’s stars will be hoping to turn their fortunes around, when they face the Sydney Roosters in the traditional ANZAC Day clash this weekend.
An interim coach for the club is set to be announced tomorrow.
