Shane Flanagan is not currently interested in becoming Richard Agar's successor as Leeds Rhinos coach - while another of the leading contenders is understood to have distanced himself from the role, too.
Flanagan is one of the favourites with the bookmakers to succeed Agar, with the 56-year-old keen to get back into coaching at the highest level after leaving the coaching staff of NRL side St George at the end of the 2020 season. He has since returned to the Dragons in a consultancy role and is believed to be helping them with their recruitment strategy.
With Gary Hetherington heading to Australia this weekend to interview potential candidates, Flanagan is a name many have unsurprisingly linked with the role. However, Rugby League Live has been told that Flanagan is instead focussed on a return to coaching in the NRL at present, with a move to England not on his radar as things stand.
That situation could change, but Flanagan is likely to be a name Leeds fans can remove from the equation when it comes to the identity of their next head coach: as is the name of Andrew Webster, too.
Webster, the brother of former Wakefield Trinity and Featherstone Rovers head coach James, is another highly-rated Australian coach whose name has been discussed in circles closely connected to Leeds.
Webster is currently working on the coaching staff of Penrith Panthers but he too is understood to favour remaining in Australia to further his coaching career at present, rather than chance his arm on a move to Super League.
That said, Hetherington is aiming to speak to a number of prospective candidates on his excursion Down Under - with Ryan Carr among them. Carr, seen by plenty as the favourite for the job due to his obvious previous links with Leeds, will hold talks with Hetherington about the position.
