Head Coach Dale McIntosh is again expected to rotate his side when they travel to Jersey for their opening fixture but one man who is certain to start is Flanagan.
The former Ospreys and Cardiff Blues back has been in top form so far this season and he is looking forward to the start of this year’s tournament.
“We’re looking forward to the trip to Jersey, it’s a chance for a semi-professional squad to be professional for two days. We fly out Friday, have food in the hotel and get time together,” he said.
“It’s something that doesn’t happen often for semi-professional players so it’s a great opportunity and hopefully we’ll get the right result on Saturday.
“I’d like to think I’m still young but I’ve travelled to a number of places over the years so if we’re struggling I’ll hopefully have something to say to help the boys.”
Ponty go into the British & Irish Cup unbeaten in the league so far and Flanagan is hoping for similar success in the cup competition. They travel to Jersey on Saturday before further tough fixtures against Leinster A and Leeds Carnegie.
“We’ve got a strong enough squad to compete on all fronts and we wouldn’t enter competitions without thinking we’ve got a chance of winning them so we’re going out to Jersey preparing to win the game,” he added.
“We’ve got a very tough group. We all know what Leinster bring, they’re professional and well organised and Leeds are another professional team but being Pontypridd we’re a big club with big expectations.”
With such a strong squad, Ponty have rotated their players in all of their six league games so far this season. But Flanagan, who was rested for the first time this season in last weekend’s win over Swansea, admits he wants to play every game.
“We’ve got a big rotation policy this year purely because of the strength in depth we have. We haven’t dropped in performance purely because the players who come in have had to play well or they won’t play again,” said the outside-half.
“I was on the bench last week so the pressure is back on myself to put in a performance to keep the jersey. If I’m honest I’m at a stage now where I want to play every week and play as much as I can.”
