Canberra great Alan Tongue believes his former club should consider re-appointing Neil Henry to replace the axed David Furner.
The former Raiders skipper was shocked at the decision to sack Furner and questioned the reasoning behind the announcement with the club sitting just outside the top eight.
"It took a lot of people by shock, the timing of it in particular, with three games to go. It was a decision we couldn't work out at the time," Tongue told AAP.
"I feel for Dave. He has poured his heart and soul into the club as a player and as a coach."
Henry led the Raiders into the finals in the second of his two seasons at the helm in 2008 and won the NRL coach of the year before moving to North Queensland, who he will leave at the end of the year.
But Tongue also claims his links with Mal Meninga, who's leading a six-man sub-committee tasked with finding a replacement for Furner, could work in Henry's favour.
"I really loved my time under Neil Henry and although the Cowboys are letting him go and had some indifferent form under him at times ... I think he is a really good coach ... one of the best I have played under," he said.
"There's been up to a dozen names linked and they've put a sub-committee together led by Mal who employed Neil as an assistant coach with Queensland so he knows all about his strengths.
"But there's been six or seven really good names thrown up. No doubt they'll go through all the different scenarios and you'd think they'd consult the senior players as well."
NEIL Henry is in line for an unexpected return to Canberra after Raiders chairman John McIntyre revealed on Tuesday night the axed Cowboys coach had been forgiven for his dramatic walkout on the club.
Canberra have formed a sub-committee to assess candidates to replace David Furner and it is understood Henry will be short-listed despite his messy split with the Raiders five years ago.
That sets-up the prospect of a coaching swap, with current Canberra caretaker Andrew Dunemann a leading contender to replace Henry after being interviewed by Cowboys officials.
In his second year in charge in 2008, Henry dropped a bombshell on the club, activating a get-out clause Canberra hierarchy forgot about to rescind his contract for the following year.
Within weeks, Henry had inked a five-year deal with the Cowboys, leaving the Raiders in disarray as club powerbrokers scrambled to find a viable successor.
They ultimately promoted assistant coach Furner, but in an intriguing twist his sacking last week has now opened the door for Henry to finish the job he started in Canberra.
Club great Ricky Stuart is not being considered for Canberra's vacant coaching role
Club great Ricky Stuart has been ruled out of the race to become Canberra's next head coach, as former mentor Neil Henry headlines a shortlist of nine names to replace David Furner.
Raiders chief executive Don Furner will next week sit down with club champion and Queensland coach Mal Meninga as well as directors David Thom and Dr Allan Hawke to run the rule over their coaching candidates.
Furner said the amount of interest in the Raiders position has been "amazing", with a list of 16 applicants quickly drawn up, eight or nine of whom would be given "serious consideration".
One name that won't be discussed is Stuart, who played 203 first grade games for the Raiders in the 1980s and 1990s and won premierships in 1989, 1990 and 1994.
The Parramatta coach was strongly linked to the Raiders once the position became vacant a fortnight ago, with reports he'd been offered a seven-year deal worth $7 million.
But Don Furner said there had been no approach made.
Parramatta coach Ricky Stuart says he doesn't want any more speculation about his future, but has done nothing to douse talk of a possible switch to Canberra.
Stuart's name has been linked to the Raiders, the club he won three premierships with as a player, ever since David Furner was sacked.
Canberra chief executive Don Furner said on Sunday Stuart's name was not on the Raiders shortlist, but rumours persist he could still be headed to the national capital.
Stuart said he won't talk about it until the end of the season.
"There's a lot of speculation about it," Stuart said after Parramatta's 26-22 win over St George Illawarra on Monday night.
"Every day there's something in the paper and I don't want any more speculation about me.
"I'd rather be here tonight talking about the win, it's something we haven't been able to talk about much lately.
"I'd like to have some positive press for a change; I'd prefer to talk about the win."
Asked if he could end the speculation Stuart said: "I'll talk about it after the season is done.
Canberra Raiders call for hardline coach to stamp out bad behaviour
DAVID BARBELER
AAP
SEPTEMBER 03, 2013 6:59PM
SENIOR Canberra players David Shillington and Josh McCrone have called on the club to appoint a head coach who will stamp out the off-field misbehaviour that derailed their 2013 NRL campaign, while throwing their support behind interim coach Andrew Dunemann.
Following the Raiders' fifth straight loss on the weekend, Shillington didn't shy away from stating the actions of sacked fullback Josh Dugan and AWOL centre Blake Ferguson had created unwelcome distractions throughout the year.
His comments come the same day Ferguson had his lawyer make an appearance on his behalf in a Sydney court over a charge of indecent assault stemming from an incident in a Cronulla bar in June.
Following Dunemann's tough new stance on Ferguson, Shillington confirmed the former Raiders assistant coach had emerged as one of the players' favourites to lead the side in 2014.
However he said whoever the club chose would need to continue to crack down on ill discipline.
"If the coach can handle the off-field stuff and get us performing at our peak, I think we'll be a team to beat,'' Shillington said.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen with Blake, but he seems headed for the same destiny (as Dugan).
"Sooner rather than later, it sends a message to the playing group that you can't do whatever you want and get away with it.''
Where will Neil Henry and Ricky Stuart end up in 2014? Source: DailyTelegraph
NEIL Henry and Ricky Stuart are locked in a fascinating coaches dance, with both men firmly in the frame to coach either Parramatta or Canberra next season.
While the Raiders have courted Stuart to leave Parramatta, The Daily Telegraph can reveal there’s now been a late push for Henry to return to the Nation’s Capital.
But should Canberra offer Stuart the job, Henry won’t necessarily walk away empty handed because he also enjoys strong support to take over at Parramatta.
The intrigue comes on another bleak day for Stuart’s Eels, which saw prop Mitch Allgood charged for high-range drink driving.
Allgood blew 0.131 following the team’s Mad Monday celebrations at The Royal Oak Hotel in North Parramatta and faces stern punishment from the NRL Integrity Unit, which fined and suspended North Queensland’s James Tamou for a similar offence in June.
Despite the controversy, Allgood on Tuesday appeared in social media photographs of Eels players partying on the street with beers.
Insiders viewed the provocative posts as an illustration of soured relationships between the club and players, a dozen of whom were told to find other clubs midway through 2013.
Only two, Reni Maitua (Canterbury) and Cheyse Blair (Manly), have done so.The rest are now closely eyeing Stuart’s next move in the hope a new coach might have a change of heart.
So too are some of Parramatta’s 2014 recruits.
The Daily Telegraph has learned that at least three of the buys, as well as some Eels who this year signed extensions, enjoy get-out clauses should Stuart leave the club.
The coach can also leave at any time, thanks to a clause in his three-year contract that was inserted to safeguard him against Parramatta’s volatile board.
In-fighting at the club has now reached an all-time low, with the board split three ways over former CEO Denis Fitzgerald’s bid to influence the club’s direction.
It’s understood Fitzgerald is pushing for Jason Taylor to replace Stuart, but sitting members of the board are known to prefer Henry as their next option.
Henry’s stocks have not stopped rising since his sacking from North Queensland as the Cowboys rode a six-match winning streak to sneak into Saturday night’s elimination final against Cronulla.
Furthermore, the Eels have also discussed plans to poach Cowboys football manager Peter Parr as their new CEO.Canberra, however, hold the balance of power.
The Raiders have formed a sub-committee that includes Queensland Origin coach Mal Meninga to appoint their next coach.While Meninga is a good mate of Stuart’s from their playing days at the Raiders, he also has immense respect for Henry after the pair combined to trigger Queensland’s record Origin reign over NSW.
Henry was Meninga’s assistant coach for the first five years of the unbroken eight-year run.
Meninga has spoken to Henry about the Raiders job, but there has been no formal interview.
