{"id":408396,"date":"2024-07-01T20:12:39","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T20:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=408396"},"modified":"2024-07-01T22:06:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T22:06:30","slug":"good-example-why-this-moment-had-flanno-smiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=408396","title":{"rendered":"'Good example': Why this moment had Flanno smiling"},"content":{"rendered":"

W\ufeffith six minutes to go and the result beyond reach in Sunday's clash between the Dragons<\/a> and Dolphins<\/a>, Herbie Farnworth looked certain to score a consolation try.<\/p>\n

But from out of nowhere, Moses Suli – who is by no means the fastest centre in the competition – flew from the other side of the field and made a try-saving tackle.<\/p>\n

Despite his side leading by 20 points, Suli lunged out and dragged Farnworth backwards, forcing the ball loose in a desperation moment.<\/p>\n

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That same type of desperation has been missing for St George Illawarra for the past few season at least and Shane Flanagan<\/a> couldn't help but smile when a reporter brought Suli's last-ditch effort up during the post-game press conference.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"With things like that, you can look at the scoreboard and not react," the coach said.<\/p>\n

"That's the sort of team we want to be – no matter what the scoreboard says, we scramble and save tries. That's a good example, I'll be showing that during the week."<\/p>\n

That particular moment from Suli typifies the new-look Dragons, who moved into the top-eight for the first time since round one and \ufeffhave been one of the NRL's big improvers this season under Flanagan's guidance.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the year, Flanagan's men travelled to Redcliffe to face the Dolphins and were absolutely spanked in a 38-0 drubbing, sounding early alarm bells at the club.<\/p>\n

The turnaround naturally hasn't been all smooth sailing but Flanagan has instilled the steely defensive resolve he was known for during his days as Cronulla coach.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Their second-half shutout of the Dolphins was yet another example of the improved mental strength within the four walls, despite some shaky moments in 2024.<\/p>\n

"In round two, we were just growing as a football team," Flanagan said.<\/p>\n

"It's been well-publicised that we've played really well and it hasn't been so good the next week. We have been inconsistent, but we are a lot better defensively. The team from round two to the team we are today, there's been a lot of improvement."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In their opening eight games, St George Illawarra conceded 214 points, headlined by an Anzac Day shellacking against the Sydney Roosters<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In their past seven games, Flanagan's team have let in 140 points.<\/p>\n

It's by no means a pretty number or an extravagant difference, but it's been enough to start allowing their rusted-on supporters to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"From round two to now, we've definitely changed and grown as a team," captain Ben Hunt<\/a> said after the round 18 win. <\/p>\n

"It took a bit of time for us to learn and really buy in \u2026 we showed today that if we stick to our systems, we can do a good job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"You can definitely feel the excitement building – inside the club and on the outside. You run into some fans on the street and they are all really excited and feeling good about where the club is going. <\/p>\n

"It's exciting for us, but we've still got some work to do to please those fans."<\/p>\n

The first item on the agenda for the Red V will be seeking some form of revenge for their 60-18 loss back in April and Flanagan revealed his squad are already aware of the challenge that lies ahead against the Roosters.<\/p>\n

\"Dragons<\/p>\n

"My word, it's already been mentioned in the sheds," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's a bit of redemption. I thought we got off to a really good start against the Roosters that day. It was 20 minutes in and we had scored the first try and we were up for it – but then their halfback kicked us off the park. <\/p>\n

"We need to be really good next week and it's a really good challenge for us. <\/p>\n

"After today's result, it's a good place for us to be in and let's see how we go against another top-four side \u2026 we will know where we're at."\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

W\ufeffith six minutes to go and the result beyond reach in Sunday's clash between the Dragons and Dolphins, Herbie Farnworth looked certain to score a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":408398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=408396"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408401,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408396\/revisions\/408401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/408398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=408396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=408396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=408396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}