St George Illawarra five-eighth Kyle Flanagan has been taken to hospital in an ambulance after a sickening head knock in the 22-14 loss to Gold Coast.
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan was in conversation with his son underneath CBUS Super Stadium immediately after the match in Robina.
Kyle was lying flat on a stretcher and in a neck brace about to be placed in a waiting ambulance as Shane spoke to him.
Flanagan collided with teammate Hayden Buchanan in the 61st minute as both went to tackle Titans debutant hooker Oliver Pascoe.
The Red V playmaker was motionless on the ground for minutes, but thankfully was moving his arms as he was placed on a medicab and taken from the field.
‘He’s not good. He was taken to hospital. He was unconscious for what someone said was five minutes, so that is a big concern,’ Shane Flanagan said post-match.
Kyle Flanagan is pictured being stretchered off the ground in a neck brace after a sickening head clash that left him unconscious for five minutes on Sunday
Flanagan’s father and coach Shane (pictured) was watching from the box as the incident unfolded and was shaken in his post-match press conference
There was obvious concern for Flanagan’s welfare as he was tended to on the field after being knocked out in the loss to the Titans
‘He rang his mum and rang his wife and they are taking precautionary X-rays. He has got feeling in his legs and movement, so let’s hope he is OK.’
It was tough for a father to watch while also trying to get his now winless side to fire in the final 20 minutes. Shane said his son showed great resilience despite the injury.
‘It was definitely a challenge. I had to get myself together and regroup and know we have got good medical staff and he’d be OK,’ he said.
‘He is talking. He was a bit agitated. He is one of the toughest kids you are ever going to see, so he didn’t want to go in the ambulance.
‘He’d prefer to sit in the car, but that is just the way he is. It wasn’t nice to see.’
The Dragons, without a win after four rounds, were poor and can’t use Flanagan’s loss as an excuse.
‘They are NRL players. They need to get on with it. We can’t use that as an excuse,’ Shane said.
Captain Damien Cook agreed.
‘You never like seeing your teammates like that, so I hope he is OK,’ Cook said.
‘We had a job to do and we have to do that for him too. He puts his body on the line every week. That wasn’t the reason we lost tonight.
‘We let some silly tries in and as a playing group we need to come together and trust what we are doing and stick to what we are doing.’
The Dragons have been in games but can’t get the job done at the end of them.
‘It is really frustrating. I know I have a group of players that can get it done, but we are not getting it done for 80 minutes,’ Shane Flanagan said.
‘We had a really good off-season. They are fit enough and strong enough and are getting the information. I have to look long and hard and deep.’
