Flanagan, who has been deregistered for breaching the conditions around his 2014 suspension from the Sharks' supplements saga, has told The Daily Telegraph he wasn't aware of any unapproved third-party agreements to players.

This is despite almost $1 million of third-party agreements, including cash payments, being found on a spreadsheet Flanagan sent from his personal email account to his work account.

This was uncovered during the investigation by the NRL's integrity unit that led to Flanagan's resignation.

"I'll cop my penalty for communicating with the club when I was under suspension," Flanagan said.

"But I had nothing to do with the salary cap. Nothing whatsoever."

"To my knowledge, all the third parties were registered with the NRL.

"I asked specifically each time a contract was done if they were NRL approved.

"I don't do contract negotiations and I wouldn't think any NRL coach would."

Flanagan said he sent the email because he was unaware of any improper payments.

"Why would I try to hide it?" he said.

"Everything was above board as far as I knew."

Australian Associated Press