DRAGONS coach Paul McGregor has laughed off suggestions the appointment of former premiership-winner Shane Flanagan as his assistant could erode his authority with the playing group.
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Flanagan's arrival in Wollongong has been one of the more intriguing story-lines of the preseason, with Dragons players - and McGregor himself - praising the former Sharks mentor's input.
Flanagan's made no secret of his desire to be a head coach again once his suspension - his second - ends at the end of 2021, the same year McGregor comes off contract.
Flanagan recently admitted the speculation was "the elephant in the room," but McGregor said he's not fazed by the chatter, insisting their relationship is strong.
"[Speculation's] fine, it's our sport, that's sport at the elite level," McGregor said.
"For me it's been really, really good to have an experienced guy there as a sounding board. He's a hard-working coach, he's smart, he's innovative.
"He's got a real purpose behind what he does, his vision around his defence is strong. He wants to get back into the workforce pretty hard after 12 months off so he's very energetic.
"Shane will be a first-grade coach again in time to come, but he's got a suspension to serve for this year and next year. When that time comes, we'll wait and see.
"For me it's not about what's happening next year, it's about what's happening right now. That's me working really hard to serve my players the best I can and really driving my staff to be the best they can."
Veteran prop James Graham has admitted that dynamic could be tested at stages throughout the season, while Blues coach Brad Fittler suggested the situation has the potential to undermine McGregor's authority.
McGregor said the latter might prompt a phone call to his old mate, but he's confident he has the full faith of the playing group.
"I'm sure after that one I might get a phone call from Freddie, or I might ring him myself, but personally if the players didn't want me here I would not be here," McGregor said.
"It's that simple. The review in 2019 was pretty real and if the players hadn't shown I was the right person to coach, I wouldn't be here right now. That's not what happened.
"When you're looking at it from far away, you probably don't really know what's going on inside [the club]. Obviously 2019 was disappointing and the first person who gets looked at is the coach. That's fine.
"After the season we had we all had a real good look at ourselves everyone and knew what happened wasn't good enough. We've implemented a lot of change, I'm very comfortable with the changes we've made, and 2020's a different season."
The Dragons will open their season in Wollongong for the first time in the joint-venture's history on Sunday, hopefully in front of a large crowd after the NRL confirmed fans will be locked out of matches from round two amid the Coronavirus crisis.