Kyle Flanagan faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines after he was released from hospital at 2.00am following his sickening head clash in the Dragons’ loss to the Titans.
Flanagan was unconscious for five minutes with Channel 9’s Danny Weidler reporting that, while he was cleared of fractures, he will still be out for a long period to recover from the ugly incident.
The Dragons released a statement on Flanagan’s condition on Monday morning, clearing him of any serious damage.
“St George Illawarra Dragons five-eighth Kyle Flanagan has been cleared of any serious injury following scans at hospital overnight,” the club said in a statement.
“Flanagan was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital as a precaution after sustaining a heavy concussion and potential neck injury. Thankfully, imaging has confirmed no structural damage.
“He will continue to be monitored by club medical staff under NRL concussion protocols regarding the return-to-play timeline and is travelling home with the team today.”
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan opened up on the “challenge” of coaching his son after he suffered the ugly head knock, while also lamenting the team’s performance against the Titans after slumping to an 0-4 season start.
The Gold Coast broke their victory drought with a 22-14 win, while the Red V remain winless in 2026 alongside only the Sea Eagles, who sacked their coach on Friday.
Adding to the Dragons’ woes was a gut-wrenching incident involving Kyle Flanagan, who left the field on a medi-cab after colliding with teammate Hayden Buchanan.
Flanagan confirmed his son had been “taken to hospital” in the post-match press conference.
“He’s not OK – he’s been taken to hospital,” he said.
“He was unconscious for three or four minutes, someone said five minutes, so that’s a big concern.
“But he’s rang his Mum and his wife and they’re taking him just for precautionary X-rays. So he’s got feeling in his legs and movement and all that sort of stuff.
“So I just hope that it’s okay, but being unconscious for that long a period is a bit of a concern isn’t it.”
Flanagan was then asked “how tough” it was to deal with the incident as a family member before refocusing on the task at hand.
“Yeah, it was definitely a challenge,” he said.
“But I had to get myself together and obviously regroup and know that we’ve got good medical staff and that he’d be okay. But yeah, it’s definitely a challenge.
“I haven’t had to do that before… he was talking, he’s a bit agitated. He’s one of the toughest kids you’re ever going to see.
“So he didn’t want to go in the ambulance. He preferred to sit in a car of whatever. That’s just the way he is, so it wasn’t nice to see.”
The Dragons’ No.6 was also wearing a neck brace after the ugly knock, with Flanagan saying his medical staff “don’t know” whether Kyle has suffered any serious damage.
Regardless, the injury was “no excuse” for the Red V’s loss to the Titans.
“They are NRL players that need to get on with it,” Flanagan said.
“We can’t use that as even any type of excuse. As I said, Damien (Cook) was probably out there, it is a concern. Your teammate is down, but you need to be able to get on with it.”
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