Flanagan favourite for Leeds job as Furner takes legal action

Former Cronulla head coach Shane Flanagan has emerged as the favourite to take charge at Leeds.

The Rhinos this morning sacked David Furner just 14 games into his reign, placing Richard Agar in temporary charge at Headingley.

And as the search for Furner’s permanent successor gets underway, reports down under suggest Flanagan is in line to take up the role.

The 53-year-old is currently deregistered indefinitely from the NRL for breaching the terms of his 2014 suspension following the Sharks supplement scandal.

Despite this, Flanagan is still rated as one of the best coaches in the world and has been waiting on a vacancy in Super League to reignite his career.

He had two stints with Cronulla and was able to lead the club to its first Premiership title in 2016.

The Australian Daily Telegraph claim Flanagan would not be stopped from coaching in Super League by the NRL, with the two competitions often standing together on suspended players.

Meanwhile exiled coach Furner, who signed a three-year-deal with the Rhinos prior to the season, is set to take legal action for unfair dismissal.

It’s reported that he was not given the power to fix the club’s shambolic squad and was forced to keep several ageing players who were on long contracts.