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Confessed peptide user Sandor Earl may have stolen Canberra’s bad boy tag, but the NRL club still hasn’t located his troubled mate and possible budding boxer Blake Ferguson.
The AWOL centre was last seen at Raiders HQ on Saturday, with CEO Don Furner unable to speak to Ferguson the entire week.
Ferguson had advised the Raiders to contact his second-cousin Anthony Mundine after failing to show up for a meeting on Tuesday night, however the club had no success in doing so.
While Mundine could have provided a stable influence for Ferguson, the bad news is he flew to the US on Friday to promote a proposed boxing bout against Shane Mosley in Sydney on October 23.
However it’s understood the undercard fight is open and being courted as a possible option for Ferguson, who has been talking to sports agent Khoder Nasser.
News of Ferguson’s potential boxing career comes just one day after reports emerged that he had been charged by police for allegedly driving with a suspended license whilst speeding 18km/h over the limit.
He is scheduled to appear at Moss Vale Local Court on October 21 – two days before his proposed professional boxing debut.
After standing down the missing star without pay on Thursday, the Raiders say the alleged driving offences will also be taken into account when considering Ferguson’s future at the club.
However it’s highly unlikely that meeting will ever take place.
The 23-year-old has the option for a get-out clause in his contract as of October 31 that was triggered when head coach David Furner was sacked last week.
It’s almost certain that if the Raiders don’t cut him loose before then, he’ll trigger that clause to be closer to family and friends in Sydney.
The distraction couldn’t come at a worse time for Ferguson’s teammates, who have slumped to 12th place after four straight losses.
His latest Houdini act is just one of many off-field indiscretions over the past nine months, the most serious of which being the alleged indecent assault of a woman in a Cronulla bar in June for which he’ll front a Sydney court next Tuesday over.
Other indiscretions include drinking with sacked teammate Josh Dugan instead of turning up to a recovery session in March, and being kicked out of a music festival last November after allegedly spitting on patrons.
No wonder Raiders interim coach Andrew Dunemann earlier in the week admitted the whole Ferguson saga had become a circus.
Meanwhile Canberra have re-signed under 20s stars fullback Jack Ahearn, centre Jeremy Hawkins and prop Jeff Lynch until the end of 2015.
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