Shane Flanagan is back in the NRL.
St George Illawarra announced on Wednesday morning that Flanagan had joined the Dragons' coaching staff for the 2020 NRL season as an assistant coach.
Flanagan has joined the club on a one-year deal, with the NRL not allowing Flanagan to start his role with the Dragons until late December.
Flanagan has traded the black, white and blue for the red V. He is held in high regard in the shire having led Cronulla to their historic maiden premiership in 2016.
Flanagan resigned from his role as Cronulla head coach in January. The NRL deregistered Flanagan in December, 2018 and fined the Sharks $800,000 after the governing body found he had breached the terms of his 12-month suspension in 2014 for his role in the club's peptides scandal due to his communications with the club that year.
That fine was later reduced to $500,000 because of the club's eventual acceptance and acknowledgement of their wrongdoing.
Flanagan, who was named coach of Cronulla's team of the half century, said at the time the decision to resign had been one of the toughest of his 36-year career in rugby league.
The NRL announced in September that Flanagan would not be allowed to return to a head coaching role in the NRL until 2022 at the earliest.
Flanagan met with NRL CEO Todd Greenberg where a path to return to a head coaching role was laid out, with the governing body allowing Flanagan to become an assistant coach next season.
That opened the door for Flanagan to join St George Illawarra.
The Dragons suffered through a dismal 2019 campaign, prompting a football department review.
The review, conducted in part by respected administrator and former premiership and State of Origin-winning coach Phil Gould, concluded with a number of key personnel and structural changes.
The Dragons announced earlier this month that Flanagan's former assistant coach at Cronulla, James Shepherd, had joined the club following Ben Hornby's departure.
Former Cronulla professional surfer Matt Griggs also joined the club as a mind and performance coach, while former Sharks junior representative physio Davis Theobald also joined the Dragons as a rehab physiotherapist.
The Dragons also added Adrian Jimenez (strength and conditioning) and Gerard Murphy (culture and leadership) to their backroom staff with Steve Dean promoted to lead NRL physiotherapist.
The Dragons said in a statement they had "exercised due diligence throughout the lengthy appointment process" of Flanagan in consideration of his 2018 NRL coaching deregistration.
Whether the decision to appoint Flanagan as an assistant will help or heap more pressure on under-fire head coach Paul McGregor remains to be seen. McGregor, already under scrutiny from large sections of St George Illawarra's demanding fan-base, said he was pleased with the recruitment.
"Shane will be a valuable asset to the Dragons' endeavours in 2020," McGregor said.
"His success has been proven time and time again over many years and we're glad to have him on board."
The Dragons also confirmed that Mathew Head would return as the Dragons' Canterbury Cup NSW coach in 2020.
