Dragons coach Shane Flanagan says he treats his son Kyle like any other player in the squad and has rejected suggestions of favoritism after defending his decision to axe Lachlan Ilias. Coach Flanagan dropped his son’s halves partner Ilias from the first-grade squad earlier in the week and called up young playmaker Lyhkan King-Togia for Saturday night’s NRL Magic Round showdown against the Wests Tigers.
King-Togia returns to the Dragons’ starting side after featuring briefly at the end of last season when the younger Flanagan was suspended. The 19-year-old’s inclusion comes at the expense of Ilias, who paid the price for his inconsistent form in 2025 after being criticized for failing to ice a couple of games the Dragons felt they should have won earlier in the season.
Ilias’ manager, Braith Anasta, warned that he might be dropped if his game management didn’t improve, and veteran league reporter David Riccio suggested this week that defensive weaknesses were also behind the No. 7’s axing. However, many fans still questioned why coach Flanagan made the decision to dump Ilias and not his son Kyle, amid claims from some that nepotism was behind the call.
But the former premiership-winning coach rubbished those suggestions and insisted his son’s form has been better than Ilias’s so far this season. And the coach said he’d have no issues making the same call to drop Kyle if the situation changed at the 10th-placed Dragons, who have a 3-4 record heading into Saturday night’s game.
“But Kyle has been one of our best players this year,” the Dragons coach told The Sydney Morning Herald. “When that happens, it does make it easier. Kyle has scored four tries, and he’s been setting up tries. His form has been fine… If he doesn’t play well, he doesn’t play. He’d be gone. There’s no difference. I treat Kyle exactly the same as everyone else.”
Shane Flanagan says Lachlan Ilias is ‘low on confidence.’
Ilias has taken on the bulk of the kicking duties during games for the Dragons this season, and the young Flanagan will have to step up in that department as his new halves partner, King-Togia, is not a noted kicker. But the Dragons coach admits that while Ilias is low on confidence after a rocky start to life as a St George Illawarra player, he sees no reason why the 24-year-old can’t return to the first-grade side after also being dumped by Souths last year, before suffering a serious leg injury.
“He is trying hard. His kicking has been good. He has a really good attitude. No one wants to get dropped. We’ll see him again,” coach Flanagan said about Ilias. “It’s a tough one. It’s one you don’t want to have to make, telling players they aren’t in the first-grade team.
“I just thought Lachie was down in a bit of confidence. He is a first-grade halfback. He needs to go find some form and confidence. He has had a lot of time out. He didn’t have a great preseason because he was still recovering. He’ll be back.”
The Dragons coach admitted he needed to make a change after his side copped an Anzac Day hiding at the hands of the Roosters, with Ilias the man to miss out off the back of his early season struggles. “He was one of many that didn’t turn up (against the Roosters). There could’ve been a lot of others. I felt we needed a change. We’ve gone that way.
Ilias was at fault for an attempted 40/20 kick that went out on the full against Parramatta and helped hand the Eels victory in golden point in round five. He also copped a public reprimand from the coach for failing to ice victory late on against Souths in round two, leading Anasta to make a shock admission about his client’s hopes of hanging onto the No. 7 jersey.
And Ilias axing at the hands of King-Togia comes as a double blow after the young gun signed a contract extension this week that shows he’s part of the club’s plans moving forward. The 19-year-old has been locked down by the Red V until the end of the 2027 season, and the coach says he’ll be up for Saturday night’s NRL clash with the Tigers after impressing in reserve grade over the last month. “Lyhkan has been playing really well for five or six weeks,” Flanagan said. “He deserves his shot. He doesn’t get overexcited or show frustration. He will handle it really well.”
