When Ben Hunt ditched the St George Illawarra Dragons to return to the eventual premiership-winning Brisbane Broncos, he left a glaring hole in the middle of Shane Flanagan’s spine.
Filling the most important position in any footy side, the halfback role, has proven difficult for Flanagan in the post-Hunt era, however, the mastermind coach believes he may have found the perfect replacement.
Former Cronulla Sharks half Daniel Atkinson joins the Dragons on a three-year deal from 2026, and while his name may not hold the star power of some of the game’s elite sevens, Flanagan believes he has what it takes to steer his new side to glory.
“I hope he is [our long-term halfback], I deadset hope he is,” Flanagan told Zero Tackle of Atkinson’s future with the club.
“He’s had a good preseason, he came back [to training] early and jumped back into all the fitness stuff.”
He admitted that Atkinson’s lack of playing time with the Sharks has impacted the young halfback, but has been impressed by his work ethic so far.
“He’s probably a little bit underdone because he didn’t play a lot of football last year,” Flanagan admitted.
“He was basically doing catch-up’s all the time — 20 minutes here, 20 minutes there, as that utility for the Sharks.
“He’s done a lot of work in the pre-season, and these last couple of weeks before we broke he was starting to show some real good signs about his running game and his kicking game.”
Flanagan admitted that he’s “excited to see where he can take” the Dragons, with the hope that he can grow into the club’s long-term halfback moving forward.
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