'Concern' for Dragons halves Kyle Flanagan, Daniel Atkinson after unfortunate tackles
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan admitted after his side's loss to the Storm on Saturday that ankle injuries picked up by his son Kyle and prized recruit Daniel Atkinson were both "a concern".
Flanagan's left ankle bent into a nasty position when he was tackled by Josh King and Cameron Munster with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Less than two minutes later at Wollongong's WIN Stadium, Atkinson suffered his own ankle injury when Jack Hetherington grabbed the halfback by the collar and came down hard on him from behind, forcing his right ankle to twist in ugly fashion.
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Kyle Flanagan after hurting his left ankle. NRL Imagery
Both remained on the field. They were then strapped up at half-time and played out the game, won by Melbourne 46-20.
None of the defenders involved in the tackles on Flanagan and Atkinson were placed on report, nor were penalties blown.
"They've both got bad ankles. They'll have to probably have scans," Shane Flanagan said in his post-match press conference.
"They weren't hip-drops — I watched both tackles — but their weight landed on the lower legs and they got swung around.
"So [it's] a bit of a concern."
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The coach described the two of them as "tough men".
"They know how important [it is] that we don't lose a half, so they just got on with it," Flanagan said.
St George Illawarra's 46-20 loss to Melbourne follows their controversial golden-point defeat to Canterbury in Las Vegas in round one.
Flanagan's side will meet Parramatta at CommBank Stadium next Sunday afternoon.
