David Furner was lucky to last as long as he did as Canberra coach. Had the club sacked him at the end of the 2011 season, in which the Raiders finished 15th, it would have been fair enough.
Furner had been coach for three years by then. Canberra finished 13th in 2009, and, given that results have to be catastrophic for a first-year coach not to continue into his second year, he remained coach in 2010.
The Raiders made a late rush to qualify for the finals in seventh place that year, and beat Penrith in the first week before being eliminated by Wests Tigers. You may remember that being the game in which Terry Campese went down with the first of a series of major injuries for him.
In 2011, Canberra finished on 16 points and only avoided the wooden spoon because Gold Coast, also on 16, had a worse points for-and-against differential.
Furner had been re-signed before the start of the 2011 season until the end of 2014, but that shouldn’t have stopped the club from acting.
He’d had enough time to prove himself as a first-grade coach by then, particularly at a club that had a very talented playing roster.
The Raiders have always been a frustratingly inconsistent side under Furner’s coaching. The good days were great, but the bad days were awful, and Furner was never able to do anything about the wretched ups and downs.
The Raiders have had injuries, but every club gets them.
Furner is a good guy, and because of that a lot of people will have a lot of sympathy for him, but being a good guy is down the list of things you need to make a successful coach.
Midway through last season, when the Raiders were in typically annoying form, Furner was under pressure to retain his job. Coming off the previous season’s 15th placing, they had lost eight and won just five of their first 13 matches, and were in second-last place.
The result that really put Furner under the pump then was a 40-0 loss at home to Wests Tigers, in Round 13.
But he survived, and the Raiders recovered to win four of their next seven before finishing off with a six-game winning streak that took them through to the second week of the finals, where they lost to South Sydney.
That gave hope for this season, but it has just been another roller-coaster ride.
Canberra have won two in a row three times, and three in a row once. They’ve also lost two in a row three times and three in a row once.
That’s Raiders football. At least they’re consistent with their inconsistency. It’s the sort of stuff mid-table dreams are made of, and explains why they are in ninth place.
Canberra should be consistently finishing high on the competition table and challenging for the premiership.
Even when the club sacked Furner yesterday, it was inconsistent with how these things should be done.
The board held an extraordinary meeting after Furner had taken the team to the South Coast for a training camp, so when they sacked him they had to send his brother, chief executive Don, to go and tell him the bad news.
They might have done it when David Furner was actually in Canberra.
Player power was a factor in the club’s decision. Plenty of people will say the players should have done better in terms of their form, and they probably should have, but when a team’s form is as wildly up and down as Canberra’s was I think the coach has got to take most of the responsibility.
The Raiders have got to be very careful about their next coaching appointment. They need someone who can, and will, get the best out of their players on a regular basis.
This season isn’t over for them yet, but their inconsistency and the fact they have to win their last three games to make the finals obviously isn’t a good mix.
Next year, the Raiders are almost certainly going to have to do it without both Blake Ferguson and Anthony Milford.
Ferguson had a get-out clause in his contract should Furner no longer be coach, and appeared to be already angling for a way out anyway, and Milford is determined to activate a release clause based on compassionate grounds.
There is plenty of speculation that Ferguson will end up back at Cronulla, the club he left at the end of 2010 because, he said, he wanted to go to a club that could win a premiership.
Ferguson also had a release clause at the Sharks, if Ricky Stuart was no longer coach. Will clubs ever learn about these clauses?
But if Ferguson is planning on rejoining Cronulla, he might want to wait a while to see how their playing roster looks for next year, just in case.
The loss of both Ferguson and Milford would have the capacity to blow a gaping hole in the Raiders from which the club could find it very difficult to recover in the short-term.
That makes it even more important for them to find the right man as their next coach.
GW
Roar Pro
The Raiders need a really good coach and to go well in the NRL it's essential that the spine be really good players. We have McCrone, Buttriss and Robinson (assuming Milford goes home). McCrone has to be in our 17 but he just can't think or execute things quickly enough when he's in the halves. I wish he'd accept the hooker position, it is a very important position. He can get to top speed like a cheetah and maybe he could put in one good kick per game from dummy half. Have you ever seen a senior footballer kick directly to the opposition fullback as much as he does? It was of major frustration to fans that he was allowed to kick at all, for year after year. Sam Williams is a lovely human being but his defence just isn't up to scratch. Dave Furner must be a very loyal friend, as he stuck with players such as McCrone at half and Buttriss at hooker until the day he was sacked. I can't see anyone in Canberra even wanting Ferguson to stay after the crap he's pulled recently, and his extremely poor past. He acts as though his sexual assault problems happened 20 years ago and has quickly forgotten the support he got from the club. It's funny that he's the only star mentioned lately who isn't bound for the Broncos, so they must be OK in the centres? Any money the Broncos are spending on player development and recruitment is wasted given that they can just wait till a QLD player reaches the top of his game and sign them then on compassionate/homesickness grounds. What nice guys!
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Agree the Raiders really need to get the next coaching appointment bang on. Do they bring in an experienced campaigner or a young up & coming coach. Either way they need to re establish the culture on and off the field. What about a return to the Nations Capital for Tim Sheens ? The other crucial missing piece is a top calibre halfback. The Raiders with there resources, great facilities and strong juniors should be consistently top 8 every year. I don't buy the cold weather rubbish, if all the ingredients are there to win a premiership the players will go and obviously if the money is right. The Brumbies have rebuilt and made the GF this year, they don't have an issue attracting talent.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Johnno For the record, John Ribot sacked Wally Lewis because he wanted 2 years and Reebs thort he only had 1 in him. Reebs was correct, the King was a disgrace at the Coast.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Greg Ragsie was trained by the legend Paul Cauchi, who turned up from Malta and became a champion, a good mate of mine. Lizrene was Victoria's champion stayer and in the same class as Miss Hi Lo. I watched her many times alongside the Pidgeon and Milton Manning
Glenn Innes
Guest
ScottWoodward - Spot on - Smith has an outsanding record as a coach, look where Parramatta have headed since he left, they were consitently competitive under Smith and have not neen since he left. He took a pretty average Snt George side to two consecutive Grand Finals which they lost to a quasi State of Origin team - I actually think he is the coach the Warriors need.
marayong tiger
Guest
Thats dead set right Scott. Miss hilo sent the Marayong TAB broke after one win. Rumour was she slept on the lounge. She was named after Millers "Hi-Lo" Beer. George wait for all the MT rentals in Canberra when Tony gets control.
ElGusto
Guest
On the other side of the coin, I don't understand how McCrone gets rated in the first place. Over the yearsn o9f watching 90% of games, i have seen him do some great things, but mostly this is quick running past tired forwards...his main strength. Otherwise...overthrown passes to his outside players, bad kicking game, wrong choice after wrong choice. Dont get me wrong he can be good, but more so, he can be really, really bad.
ElGusto
Guest
It does come the top..as the story goes Dave was done playing, and Mcintyre made room for him to coach reserve grade as his first coaching job, then after the Henry saga they promoted from the "family farm". The worst thing is, rumor has it that bennett wanted back to the raiders (instead of the dragons) but they thought they had Henry and we got screwed. Mcintyre is a cancer on the club, and the sooner he is gone and the board stops accepting mediocre performances from staff then we might see some improvement
sham
Guest
Not sure why people are bagging Mcrone - he is a very good attacking player - he played a large part in the Raiders run to the final last year. As for Dunnerman there is a precedent in Jason Martin sure the bears did not win a comp - they won their last comp in 1922 but Martin stepped up to the senior coaching role and laid the foundation for the bears sucess in the early 1990s with a core group of young players he had in the lower grades. Dunnerman may be able to do the same thing. The Raiders often have quite simple defensive issues. One that has cost them several games is that if you are going to play Sam Williams in the halves he needs to either improve his defence or someone else needs to cover for him. Other than that the outside backs often do not work together in defence and of course at times their forwards lack mobility. Iasac Luke carved them up last year in the finals.
Johnno
Guest
So Wayne Bennet can't coach, coz he dumped a 31 yr old Wally Lewis sent him packing to the gold coast, despite wally lewis still good enough for Australia/QLD and he played for Australia while at gold coast, then wayne bennett can't coach and should of been sacked for taking a punt on a tong Kevin Walters if it failed. And Ivan Cleary should be sacked for not getting the best out of Micheal Jennings who is now thriving under Trent Robinson.
Greg Prichard
Guest
Miss Hi Lo, a ripper. Used to get back in the field and then have to thread its way through to win. fabulous stuff. I go back to Ragsie, Lizrene etc. Great dishlickers.
mushi
Guest
Not to mention the slew of young guys and journeymen that have stepped up this year
mushi
Guest
Fergo without the cash sure, but Fergo with 200k+ a year - money in a quite little town is more destructive than in a big city
mushi
Guest
Sydney Sucks right!
turbodewd
Guest
Lifelong Raiders fan: to me the Raiders looked uncoached. Set plays were almost non-existant under Furner. The defence has been bad for years. Players failing to mark their man. Dubious persistence with McCrone. Somehow Furner didnt connect with Dugan and Ferguson. Ferguson is the best center in the NRL, alas hes a goner.
Damn Straight
Roar Rookie
Sounds.Like a tough gig mushi...but someone's gotta do it. I guess I'll settle for my views of Cockatoo Island and the harbour and a 2 minute walk to Darling St. :(
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Brian Smith has an outstanding record of improving a club in crisis for the first 2 years. The greatest gift he gave the Roosters aside from taking them to a GF was to bring Trent Robinson with him from N'Cle.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
mushi After all these years I had no idea we are neighbors. You just described Darling Point. Cuppa? FYI fellas, the best staying greyhound I have ever seen was Miss Hi Lo and she came from Marayong and was trained by Les Kelly, great man.
GW
Roar Pro
you win, I tap out. I was brought up in Sydney and played for Souths Eastern as a kid. Had the speed of a prop and the size of a half, and no ability. However, given that I'd been into the Principal's office for drinking sherry and smoking at school, and I'd set fire to a few things around the place (our garage and the cemetery), plus a few things I'm even more embarrassed about, I'm glad we moved to Canberra when I was 11, as my future didn't revolve around Long Bay Jail. I sincerely think Fergo would be better off in a quiet little town than in the bright lights of Sydney.
Silver_Sovereign
Guest
I agree, he should have been fired earlier, especially considering he couldn't develop all the potentially great youngsters anymore. Now if only the titans can sack John Cartwright who has had a lucky run. 2011-wooden spoon, 2012-missed finals, 2013-unlikely to make the 8. With all the rep players and former rep players at the Gold Coast, they should definitely have gone better than that