St George Illawarra have lost another of their best young prospects to a rival club with promising half Jonah Glover signing with South Sydney.

Glover has been touted as an NRL star of the future but has been stuck behind Kyle Flanagan and his former NSW Cup halves partner Lyhkan King-Togia and is yet to play first grade.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has a high opinion of Glover and the 22-year-old will make the shift at the end of the season.

Glover has been an integral part of St George Illawarra’s NSW Cup side running second with 11 wins, a draw and three losses.

Last year’s NSW Cup player of the year at the club, he has tallied 15 try assists in as many appearances in 2025 and will be competing with the likes of Lewis Dodd and Jamie Humphreys for a starting spot at Souths.

It comes just days after coach Shane Flanagan hit out at “unfair” criticism of his son Kyle after St George Illawarra held on for the gutsiest win of the season with a 34-20 defeat of Parramatta.

With no fit players left on the bench and with Damien Cook and late call-up Nathan Lawson both playing injured, the Dragons held on against a resurgent Eels in Wollongong on Saturday.

The hosts saw a 26-4 lead shrink to 26-20 with 21 minutes to go, with Parramatta having all the ball and looking certain to run the Dragons down.

But they held on for a rousing victory in front of a full house at WIN Stadium.

The emotion in Kyle Flanagan was also clear, after the Dragons coach had labelled criticism of him as “just ridiculous” in the moments before the game.

The halfback dug into the line in the lead up to a Corey Allan try, before going over himself moments later and passionately beating the Dragons crest on his chest in celebration.

“It hasn’t been an enjoyable two weeks but we got a win so that’s all that matters.,” Shane Flanagan said.

“It’s been unfair, it’s been deadset unfair.

“It wasn’t the halves issue the last two games we lost. It had nothing to do with the halves.

“I’m not for one second saying Kyle is elite of the elite. But even though he is my son, there is no kid that tries harder than him.”

Dragons co-captain Damien Cook interjected to also hit out at social-media trolls who had bagged Kyle, insistent it was a view held by more than just his dad.

“Fans can have their opinion …  but to bash him online and the non-stop going at it,” Cook said.

“It’s online bullying, we can’t have it and won’t support it. So I was very happy to see Kyle cross the line tonight.”

with AAP