Furner needs the green dream
Roar Guru By Curtis Woodward, 29 May 2012 Curtis Woodward is a Roar Guru & Live Blogger
- Tagged:
- Canberra Raiders, david furner, Don Furner, NRL, Rugby League, Wests Tigers
Related coverage
The Canberra Raiders were on the cusp of something irresistible at the end of 2010. After going down to the Wests Tigers in week two of the playoffs, many predicted booming times ahead for the Green Machine.
Oh, how wrong we were.
The Raiders placed 15th last year and are slipping to darker depths in 2012.
Skipper Terry Campese is gone for the season and their star player Josh Dugan would rather consume alcohol than heal his injuries.
David Furner’s dream of becoming a career coach is quickly becoming a nightmare. It might be time for David to start typing up his résumé, such are the state of the Raiders’ problems.
On Friday night they were useless. They produced a performance more befitting of a park footy side.
They looked fine in attack at times, but the rest of it was just garbage.
You can argue they were missing Campese, Dugan and Blake Ferguson (stood down for attending training drunk).
But Canberra still boasted Josh McCrone, Jarrod Croker, David Shillington, Shaun Fensom and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs.
“I thought we had a side that could (do something),” Furner said at the post-match press conference.
“We proved that in the first half, we had a side there that fought our way back into the game.
“I thought we were in the contest there in the second half, but we made some fundamental mistakes.
“The second half, I think in the first 20 minutes they doubled our possession, whether it was a repeat set, a penalty or they just had (the ball) and we couldn’t sustain it.”
You can use the possession card all you want Mr Furner, but isn’t the reason the other team had more ball is because you guys couldn’t keep it? Or that your team kept letting in tries?
Perhaps all this State of Origin chit-chat has glossed over Canberra’s hemorrhaging ways.
Supporters on a Canberra Raiders fan forum site are overwhelmingly against Furner as coach.
“Has to go, he should of been gone after round one 2009. I knew it was a bad move, why we didn’t advertise the coaching job back then is beyond me – ah that’s right we are the family farm,” Nth Queensland Raider said.
“Sorry Dave you’re a great bloke, but only a blind man with an arrow through his head would be happy with how we’ve gone under your stewardship. Four long years. The fans aren’t listening. The players don’t seem to be listening either,” Go_Greenm@chine added.
Raiders CEO Don Furner may have the hardest decision of his tenure ahead of him. To sack his brother or not to sack his brother.
Canberra host the Wests Tigers on Saturday. Oh dear.
- Explore:
- Canberra Raiders, david furner, Don Furner, NRL, Rugby League, Wests Tigers
May 29th 2012 @ 6:12am
peeeko said | May 29th 2012 @ 6:12am | Report comment
Very strange how the team is now underachieving whilst only a few years ago they were tipped by everyone to win the spoon a few years in a row and always overachieved
May 29th 2012 @ 6:42am
Chris said | May 29th 2012 @ 6:42am | Report comment
Furner’s problem is pretty simple. He is an absolute top bloke. He is the kind of guy the players probably wouldn’t get scared of.
Wayne Bennet, Craig Bellamy and Des Hasler, for example, are people players would fear if they were not going well. Sure they are probably nice guys 90% of the time but could probably turn very angry if they needed to. Furner doesn’t have it in him to start yelling at players.
May 29th 2012 @ 11:17am
Curtis Woodward said | May 29th 2012 @ 11:17am | Report comment
What a bad combination .. good guy and cant coach
May 29th 2012 @ 7:34am
james said | May 29th 2012 @ 7:34am | Report comment
I’ve been saying since mid last year that furner looked lost and needed replacing or some assistance. look what happened when the tigers brought Steve Folkes as assistant coach on board in 2010, they finally looked competitive after years of promise. Furner wont be sacked so it might be an idea to bring on an assistant coach that can actually coach.
also is the green dream in relation to game of thrones? if so I approve this article title.
May 29th 2012 @ 11:18am
Curtis Woodward said | May 29th 2012 @ 11:18am | Report comment
Game of Thrones? Sorry dude, have no idea what that is. Green dream is what they give to animals at the pound when they put them down.
May 29th 2012 @ 8:30am
turbodewd said | May 29th 2012 @ 8:30am | Report comment
I watched last friday night’s game – it was terrible. Im not sure I can blame Furner for some of those things on friday night. Robinson did a kickout on the full; Thompson made a break then ran too close to sideline and was bundled into touch; and someone missed a kick for touch after a penalty.
2010 the Raiders made week 2 of the semis, since then theyve been beset by injuries and Orford was hired for 2011 – he was unamazing. Joel Monaghan also had secks with a dog somewhere in there too.
May 29th 2012 @ 12:21pm
James said | May 29th 2012 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
I think Furner has to have some of the blame as an NRL team should be able to defend. how he has left Sam Williams and Jarrd Croker on the same side of the field is beyond me, neither can tackle anything if their lives depended on it.
May 29th 2012 @ 12:51pm
Curtis Woodward said | May 29th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
definetely targets every week for opposition teams
May 29th 2012 @ 9:12am
Gareth said | May 29th 2012 @ 9:12am | Report comment
The biggest problem I have is – who do you replace him with? Steve Kearney will probably be looking for a job before too long, but I doubt he’s a better option than Furner. The best we could hope for is the fat man in Newcastle to spit the dummy and push Bennett out – but even then, he’s not looking like the miracle worker everyone championed him as.
May 29th 2012 @ 11:20am
Curtis Woodward said | May 29th 2012 @ 11:20am | Report comment
Justin Morgan is already there in an assistant job role .. I would also be looking at Terry Matterson
May 29th 2012 @ 10:48am
george said | May 29th 2012 @ 10:48am | Report comment
totall agree .even without campese raiders have a very good squad.They have some of the best young talent recruitment david hamilton has done a wonderful job earmarking some excellent talent from all over the country side. Hus recruitment is still working with the 20 s equal 1st and s g ball side making the g f. so hamilton is doing his job but dave furner cannot turn them into consistent nrl players . either dave furner must go or he needs some serious help
May 29th 2012 @ 10:52am
Edward Kelly said | May 29th 2012 @ 10:52am | Report comment
I watch the raiders every week and I never see a game plan, it just seems to be one off bash it up then kick. There are clearly problems with leadership in the coaching and in the player group and the players are playing as individuals rather than a team. Too many players are not putting in the hard yards. There is some talent but there are some who are not performing. The problems here will take a few years to fix if they got new management now (which seems unlikely).
May 29th 2012 @ 11:21am
Curtis Woodward said | May 29th 2012 @ 11:21am | Report comment
Yep Furner loves his big forward packs doesnt he
May 29th 2012 @ 11:53am
turbodewd said | May 29th 2012 @ 11:53am | Report comment
I dont watch all the Raiders games, do they ever try set moves or even mini-moves? Its very very simple stuff they put together.
And Jarrod Croker has lost his goalkicking skills badly.
May 29th 2012 @ 12:52pm
Curtis Woodward said | May 29th 2012 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
There is nothing wrong with having a monster forward pack, but the Raiders dont play on it. They lumber forward and kick. No imagination.
May 29th 2012 @ 12:51pm
The Barry said | May 29th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Take the number 1 playmaker out of most teams for two years and they struggle. Dugan has probably played 50% of the available games in the same period.
Furner needs to look beyond just his big forward pack. It’s ok to have Shillington, TLL, White and Tilse hitting it up but beyond that they look pretty one dimensional.
TLL has gone too arts fartsy with his long hair…he needs to start shaving his head again and channeling the uncaged animal that he once looked like being…
Croker is leading pointscorer in the comp.
May 29th 2012 @ 2:47pm
Long Suffering Raider said | May 29th 2012 @ 2:47pm | Report comment
Here’s the most telling point. A good portion of the Raiders side was in the 2008 Toyota Cup winning side. That year they beat the Broncos in a golden point grand final. My hopes were high that in the next 3-5 years I could watch these same players repeat that success in first grade – as a Raiders fan I should know better than to be optimistic. The Toyota Cup Broncos of that year now make up a good portion of their NRL side – and have gone from strength to strength. Despite an Origin touch-up from the Storm, they are probably the second best side in the competition – and this is all after the mercurial Darren Lockyer’s retirement. Why have the young Broncos developed into champion players and the young Raiders are languishing? Simple. Coaching. From training, to player development, to sports science and injury management – it is obvious the Raiders coaching and player management systems are an absolute joke. Croker should have developed into a State of Origin worthy centre by now – and if he had been playing at the Broncos I bet he would have been. As it stands the kid can’t tackle to save his life and can make some woeful errors. I don’t care how many points he scores – as it stands he lets almost as many in down his side of the field. Fensom is a dependable player and is about the only Raider who shows an interest in defending. Again – put him in a quality side and he’d be an Origin player. Daniel Vidot had all the potential to be a good winger – but got dropped and then discarded for form that was far and away better than Croker’s of late. Drury Low can’t even get a game – instead we spent big on Ferguson who is a clumsy winger who again is a woeful defender. From winning the Toyota Cup in 2008 and making the finals that year – we have gone from bad to worse. The late run of 2010 is not something anyone in the current regime can point to as a good thing. It was just hiding the obvious defecincies of this team. The Raiders have not made a grand final qualifier since 1995 – that is something that we only share in common with Souths.
The sad thing is – nothing will change. The Raiders board are all pro-Furner and they are a profitable club who don’t care if crowds and memberships drop – so long as the locals keep putting money in the pokies. Raiders management – both in the Kevin Neill days and under the current McIntyre/Furner regime – don’t give a damn about winning titles. It’s all about helping out mates and making money from other ventures. Raiders fans for the most part won’t listen to criticism. Raiders online message boards and Facebook pages are dominated by rabid folk who won’t dare cop any criticism on the club’s current status. The sales figures on rose-coloured glasses in the ACT must be huge!
Furner is defended by many fans, protected by the board and is never criticised in the mainstream press. This ensures he will see out his contract – and probably get given an extension the minute the Raiders win two games in a row. And the usual defence of “David bleeds green’ is such crap too! He was more than happy to leave the club and take the money in England rather than help us rebuild in the late 90s early 00s.
I love the Raiders – and I will never ever change that. All I want is to see my club compete and to be a professional, modern and quality rugby league side. One that DEVELOPS talent and attracts the best from other clubs in order to build competitive sides. if other one-team towns can do it (Melbourne and Brisbane for example) then we can sure as hell do it as well. Unforunately that requires change from the top down – and that will never happen with the current board.
May 29th 2012 @ 10:00pm
Curtis Woodward said | May 29th 2012 @ 10:00pm | Report comment
Couldnt have said it better myself friend