Shane Flanagan has slammed suggestions St George Illawarra's clash with Canterbury carries personal significance for he and son Kyle given their history with the resurgent NRL club.
Reports re-emerged this week the Bulldogs had overlooked Flanagan for an interview before ultimately landing on former Penrith assistant Cameron Ciraldo as their head coach from 2023.
A frustrated Flanagan labelled the claim "an absolute load of rubbish" on Friday as he prepared for a round-23 meeting that finds both sides in their best form for half a decade.
Pushing to end the eighth-placed Dragons' five-year finals drought, Flanagan said he was motivated by the chance for two points, not a perceived feud with Canterbury.
"It's an absolute load of rubbish," the premiership-winning former Cronulla coach said.
"Every week's important to me to win competition points whether we're playing the Bulldogs or we're playing the Roosters or we're playing the Sharks.
"The Sharks are a little bit more important a game to me than playing the Bulldogs."
The usually chatty Flanagan was similarly quick to shut down claims Dragons recruit and son Kyle would be out to prove a point against his former team.
The younger Flanagan joined the Bulldogs from the Sydney Roosters in 2021 to play under then-coach Trent Barrett, only to fall out of favour once successor Ciraldo took charge.
Flanagan was axed from the halves last April and then consigned to a role as the Bulldogs' bench utility on return to the first-grade side later in the season.
"It's a tough job being a halfback at a club. We all know the Bulldogs weren't going that well last year and Kyle's a halfback so he copped the criticism. We all know that, Kyle knows that," Flanagan said.
"Kyle enjoyed his time at the Bulldogs, Kyle enjoyed his time at the Roosters.
"Players move on."
The Dragons are hoping for their biggest Jubilee Oval crowd since before the coronavirus pandemic, with between 17,000 and 20,000 fans expected on Saturday night.
Flanagan urged the sold-out crowd to behave cordially after a group of Bulldogs fans was filmed harassing a Raiders supporter in the aftermath of last week's win at Belmore.
"I'm sure Cameron (Ciraldo) is the same, we just want a respectful, safe environment for everyone tomorrow," Flanagan said.
"Both clubs, be really mindful of looking after each other, enjoying the day, supporting your football team but having a good day."
Written off by the rugby league press during the pre-season, the Dragons will finish the season with a winning record if they can triumph in three of their remaining five games.
"I thought at the start of the year, maybe that was just me, that we could play semi-finals and everyone thought I'd lost my marbles," Flanagan said.
Flanagan is hopeful last week's upset defeat of Melbourne - the Dragons' first win in Victoria since 1999 - can energise his side in landing a finals slot.
"(Beating the Storm) has got to instil some belief inside the individual. As a group, we talk about it," Flanagan said.
"The proof will be in the pudding tomorrow."
