Breaking News: David Furner Sacked by Raiders

Yeh not much leadership down there. Willie Mason was right in what he said... They've let players like Carney, Dugan and Ferguson run the club the past 5 years.

They're losing or have lost in past two years:

- Joel Thompson
- Josh Dugan
- Sandor Earl
- Sam Williams
- Travis Waddell
- Trevor Thurling
- Michael Chee Kam

Likely:

- Blake Ferguson
- Anthony Milford

Almost lost Papalii.

Other senior players are Brett White, Tom Learoyd Lahrs (who is never on the field)

Bet Joel Edwards is loving life.

My question is where is all their salary cap going?

Campese!

But in all honesty are they actually using it all?
 
David Furner talks about his sacking as Canberra Raiders coach



AXED Canberra coach David Furner has opened up on his shock sacking, declaring rugby league a "ruthless" game.

Furner was dumped on Wednesday afternoon after a player-led revolt.Canberra chief executive and his brother, Don, was left to drive to the NSW south coast, where the Raiders were in camp at Batemans Bay, to deliver the news.

Asked if he saw it coming, Furner said last night:

“No, it was a shock."Furner yesterday spoke to The Daily Telegraph about his demise, his relationship with Blake Ferguson, getting the news from his brother, and his future.

TOUGH SCHOOL

Furner spent 15 years with Canberra, playing and coaching in 309 games for the club. But that counted for little this week.

As one of the game’s toughest competitors, the 1994 Clive Churchill medallist understands football is a dog-eat-dog world.

“I would probably say that at the best of times, it is adrenalin . . . you just want to win,’’ Furner said. “At the worst of times it can be ruthless.

“It is a love-hate relationship.“You speak to any coach and you have to be passionate about what you are doing.

“You know me. You lower the punches and you keep going. But it can be unfair."

BLAKE FERGUSON


It would appear Furner’s lenient treatment of the troubled NSW Origin player eventually led to player discontent at the Raiders.

“There are a number of decisions you make as a coach, you’re not going to keep everyone happy,’’ Furner said.

“At the end of the day you need results.“It’s not ‘Fergo’. I thought I addressed that at the time. It was mixed feelings.

“I am not going to be say that (Ferguson) was the sole reason. You have to look at results, too.

“It’s part of coaching.You have to take your coach’s hat off — it’s about management, it’s about individuals.

At different times, you look to support players. You have to do that.“Loyalty is in my nature."

PLAYING GROUP


Furner refuses to criticise his players despite the fact they knifed him in the back.

Asked if he feels betrayed, Furner said: “No. I’m not going down that path.“The club came to a decision, mate. The decision has been made and both parties have to move on.

“Yesterday, I was shocked the way it was dealt with. Today, I have to move on, which I will.

“The club has decided to part ways and go in a different direction. At the present time, I am spending time with the family.’’


Read More: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ra-raiders-coach/story-fni3gmmu-1226701660102
 
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Raiders captains deny player revolt

By David Barbeler
AAP
Thu 22nd August, 10:27am

Canberra leaders Terry Campese and David Shillington have quashed reports a player revolt led to the sacking of David Furner.

Furner became the first head coach to be sacked in the Raiders' 32-year history on Tuesday.

Mixed messages have come out of the Raiders camp since, including that the axing occurred after a group of players expressed discontent to the club's board about

Furner's decision to stand by troubled centre Blake Ferguson.

However club captain Campese labelled those allegations as false on a video put up on the club's website.

Campese said while the players had gone down to the south coast to hold a players' meeting on Tuesday night, they never got the chance to hold it as Furner was sacked earlier that day.

Campese didn't elaborate on what the meeting was scheduled to discuss, but said Furner was aware of it.

"All these accusations that there was a nine-player revolt, or all these players confronted the board, that never happened," Campese said.

"There's been a lot of speculation over the last couple of days. The board will have their reasons."

With Campese out injured with an eye injury, Shillington is standing in as a Raiders' co-captain.

In the same video he labelled the media's reporting of the sacking as disappointing.

"For it to focus on Blake Ferguson and a player revolt is unfair and untrue," Shillington said.

"There's been talk about a nine player meeting, and a player revolt.

"They aren't the main reasons why it happened, there's a whole lot of things that go into a football club.

"It's a shame it's been reported that way."



Read More: http://www.nrl.com/raiders-captains-deny-player-revolt/tabid/10874/newsid/74185/default.aspx

 
The board should have got rid of him purely for losing control of all those players. Imagine if all the players Alicia listed were still at the club, Canberra would be easily top four material. I dunno what the problem is, but they need a coach who can control those types of players ... it can't be a coincidence that there's so many similar problems at the Raiders. All since Furner took over too, I believe.
 
The players can deny they had nothing to do with his sacking all they want but the truth is they did contribute to this.The players have way too much say, Their job is to play Rugby League not to appoint Coaches, Staff or board members...

They have a massive culture problem down there...

These issues aren't something that's just started happening either as @jamesgould eluded to they are on-going and started a while ago, This club lacks leadership and a clear direction...

Agree with James that they need a strong coach who can come in and not only get the team firing on the field but off it as well, He will need to start from scratch and install a brand new culture, Direction and way of doing things because the way things operate down there is not working...

I think Mal Meninga or Tim Sheens would be great choices but I don't think there is much chance of those guys getting the job...

With the Get out clause in Blake Ferguson's contact, It is pretty much a guarantee he will leave now as well...
 
Sheens would be a shocking choice. Look at what state he left the tigers in.

It would be a Fresh start at the Raiders for him and I believe he would do a good job...He knows what it takes to be successful and would install a better culture at the Raiders...

He has coached 4 Premierships, He has coached NSW (6 Games Won 4 Lost 2) and Australia (17 Games 15 Wins 1 Loss 1 Draw) and is the second highest capped coach of all time...

He also knows the club very well having coached them for 8 years and he also coached them to 3 premierships (1989,1990 and 1994)...

And he is not entirely to blame for the Tigers mess either...

Main Problem at the Tigers was/is the split board...not Tim Sheens or his successor Mick Potter

(I know we aren't talking about Mick Potter but he is facing the same problems currently as Tim Sheens did)
 
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Sheens had a terrible culture at the tigers. Any wonder why Benji doesn't want to hang around because he ain't running the joint along with Sheens. The poor baby is getting told what to do and chucked all his toys out of the cot.

Ask any tigers fan what they think of Sheens and the culture he left at the club.

I could of coached those raiders sides of the early 90's to the premiership. It was served to him on a platter. Have a look at his record after those star studded raiders sides and it isn't so flash.
 
Sheens had a terrible culture at the tigers. Any wonder why Benji doesn't want to hang around because he ain't running the joint along with Sheens. The poor baby is getting told what to do and chucked all his toys out of the cot.

Ask any tigers fan what they think of Sheens and the culture he left at the club.

I could of coached those raiders sides of the early 90's to the premiership. It was served to him on a platter. Have a look at his record after those star studded raiders sides and it isn't so flash.

You mean his record with (As you should know) a sub standard Cowboys side who finished wooden spooners or near the bottom every year from 1995 - 2003??

Or his record with a club he took to it's only premiership ??

He is a fantastic coach...

I admit he was partly to blame for the the Tigers problems now but anyone with half a knowledge of Rugby League will also know that if Your board in divided and incompetent then it makes it nearly impossible to be successful and have a good culture...

As for the Raiders sides of that era answer me this then, If it was so easy to coach them to premierships with the roster they had then why when Tim left in 1996 they never even went close to winning another title ??

Under Tim Sheens the Raiders played finals 8 times in 9 years, finished top 4 7 times, won 3 Premierships and finished minor premiers once...

They still had the following players after Tim left...

Laurie Daley
Brad Clyde
Jason Croker
David Furner
Ben Kennedy
Brett Mullins
Noa Nadruku
Ken Nagas
Todd Payten
Quentin Pongia
Ricky Stuart
Steve Walters
Ruben Wiki
Simon Woolford

Anyway this stuff is irrelevant, Bottom line I believe Tim Sheens would be a good choice... But each to their own :)
 
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Go onto the cowboys forum and ask diehard guys like Beaves for his opinion on the guy and how he managed to do the impossible and run the club further down then what it was when he arrived. We lost massive amounts of junior talent while he was at the joint simply because he is a stubborn old fool and stuck with his favourites just like he has at the tigers over the years.

Shocking coach that has lived off the star studded raiders side in the early 90's just like Ricky Stuart has off the roosters sides of the early 2000's.

- - - Updated - - -

As for the 2005 season, the Tigers were going that bad they went out to $151 to win the premiership, they got on a late season roll just like the Eels of 2009.

Then apart from doing the exact same thing 2 years running in 2010/2011 with much better squads but falling at the prelims because of the lack of structure and game plans what else has he done at the tigers where they did have much better squads then what he had at the Cowboys when he was there?... Shocking coach that I'm sure fans of all clubs won't want to see him in charge of.
 
You right he so "shocking" he has 4 premierships, 1 State of origin series win, 3 Dally M coach of the year awards, 15 Test wins as coach and was the first coach to reach 600 games in the NRL/ARL/NSWRL...what a crap career

Nobody could've done much better with the Cowboys from 1995-2003, They may have scraped in the 8 with a different coach but it's unlikely

I don't need to ask anyone, I am capable of making my own opinions...I don't particularly care what Tigers or Cowboys fans think of Tim Sheens, I have my own thoughts on him...

Like I said each to their own :)
 
Tim Sheens winning record at the Panthers was 44%, at the Cowboys 26% and at the Tigers 49%. That's not a record that indicates him being a great coach...

David Furner's winning percentage is 43% so the Raiders aren't much better off getting Sheens as his replacement lol.

He is lucky to of come across the Raiders outfit of the early 90's otherwise he wouldn't even be around league today.
 
Tim Sheens winning record at the Panthers was 44%, at the Cowboys 26% and at the Tigers 49%. That's not a record that indicates him being a great coach...

David Furner's winning percentage is 43% so the Raiders aren't much better off getting Sheens as his replacement lol.

He is lucky to of come across the Raiders outfit of the early 90's otherwise he wouldn't even be around league today.

Just a couple of points...

1. You can't say that Tim's winning percentage would be that low at Canberra as it is a completely different circumstance from his previous positions, Each coaching job offers different challenges

2. You also can't guarantee that Tim wouldn't be in Rugby League today if he didn't coach Canberra in their glory days, Sure he may not have been as successful but I believe he still would've been an NRL standard coach...But we will never know because he did coach Canberra

Bottom line is Tim has had a decorated career and I believe he still has something to offer...You think the opposite which is fine

Let's leave at that :)
 
Sheens has had one good season post-1994. It was a top season in 05, Wests made the top four in the regular season after all. But one great year out of 20 isn't a great record.
 
Terry Campese and Brett White led player revolt that saw coach David Furner sacked



DESPITE denying any involvement, Canberra representative stars Terry Campese and Brett White were behind David Furner's sacking as Raiders coach.


The Daily Telegraph can exclusively reveal that Campese and White approached two board members at a meeting in Woden at 5pm on Monday.

The high-profile pair spoke about Furner’s future with board member David Thom and major stakeholder Simon Hawkins.It is understood the meeting all but signalled the end of Furner’s coaching tenure at Canberra.

Campese and White then wanted to keep their involvement private.So much so, they actually asked the club to be interviewed internally so they could deny there was a player mutiny.The interviews were posted on the Canberra Raiders website.


Read More: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...id-furner-sacked/story-fni3gmmu-1226702347250
 
Campese ought to talk. He's on 600k and has done nothing for 4 years. Somehow he runs the club. Hasn't he just racked up 100 games?
 
Who saw on the Sunday Footy Show them saying that Canberra have offered Ricky Stuart a $7million 7 year contract to coach the Raiders? :lol:

If it's true, it's enough to almost make you feel sorry for Canberra fans! Imagine 7 years of Stuart at the helm!!!
 
Maybe if Stuart coaches for another 7 years he might get close to being able to coach as good as he deflects. On second thoughts that isn't possible. The Platters and Freddie Mercury both had Stuart in mind when they sang The Great Deflector.
 
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