I’ve never really rated David Furner as a coach. I think when you look at the Canberra Raiders talent and depth as well as their erratic performances…something wasn’t working.
Having said that, the Raiders find themselves in the finals race. In a few weeks time they could be challenging for the NRL title.
I’ve written before that the Canberra Raiders are the type of team no one wants to play in the finals. When the Raiders are good, they are really good! So to sack David Furner now just seems like really strange timing to me.
Why wouldn’t the Raiders wait until the end of the season? It is not even that far away! I can understand that the club decided it needed to make a change, but right now?
When a coach loses support of the playing group that is just about the end of the road for the coach. People sometimes forget that players are professionals at what they do. They sometimes when when the coach just isn’t up to the job.
The thing that worries me about the Raiders is that they don exactly have a lineup full of winners. This isn’t a playing group that knows a great deal about what it takes for a club to be successful.
What ever the case, Furner is now gone and the Raiders will be fighting for their place in the finals with a new coach in place. Far from ideal for any club….
For now Raiders assistant coach Andrew Dunemann will coach the club until the end of the season.
