Shane Flanagan’s fiery halftime talk spurred his Dragons to a remarkable comeback victory over Penrith after what he described as an “awful” first half.
Flanagan and his team didn’t hold back discussing the halftime pep talk after the game.
When Fox Sports’ Lara Pitt asked Flanagan about what he said to the team, he jokingly replied, “No you don’t want to know!”
Flanagan didn’t mince words when discussing the first-half performance with captain Jack de Belin, remarking, “It wasn’t pretty, was it? Especially for a few individuals. I was really disappointed with how we played in the first half, constantly turning the ball over. It was awful… We just didn’t give ourselves a chance.”
The Dragons trailed 10-0 at halftime, struggling to find their footing in attack, partly due to the absence of three Origin stars, including Ben Hunt.
Flanagan praised his team’s response in the second half, where they ultimately secured a 22-10 victory.
Acknowledging the limited effectiveness of repeated harsh criticism, Flanagan noted, “You probably only have two or three of those talks you can use in a season. I’ve used one.”
His son, Dragons half Kyle Flanagan, jokingly referred to the halftime talk as more of a “spray” than a pep talk, highlighting the team’s determination to rectify their mistakes from the previous week’s game against the Bulldogs.
De Belin echoed the sentiment, stating, “It was good. It was needed. He was only speaking the truth. It was honest. As you’ve seen, we got the result.”
Flanagan commended his team’s resilience, emphasizing their character and determination to bounce back in the face of adversity. He expressed his satisfaction with having a team that doesn’t back down from challenges, even in tough situations like being down 10-0 against Penrith.
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