Blake Ferguson has hit out at being blamed for the sacking of Canberra coach David Furner and said he’ll speak to his management about activating his release clause at the conclusion of the NRL season.
Furner was axed on Tuesday by the Raiders amid rumours of player unrest stemming from his support for Ferguson, who has been at the centre of a number of off-field issues and is fighting an allegation of indecent assault.
The troubled NSW star has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if Furner departs but he denied having anything to do with his sacking.
“He always stood up for me when I was in trouble and as everyone knows I’ve not had the best year this year,” Ferguson told the Seven Network.
“I am really gutted that my named has been put forward as the reason he got sacked.
“I will get my management to sort that (release clause) all out at the end of the season, but it is the last thing on my mind right now.”
Canberra interim coach Andrew Dunemann starts his audition for a NRL head coaching job against Manly on Saturday with one eye on the soon-to-be vacant North Queensland role.
Dunemann was parachuted into the Raiders’ hotseat after Furner’s sacking, with three games of the season remaining and the team sitting one place outside the top eight.
The 37-year-old is one of several candidates being considered by North Queensland, where he spent three years as a player in the mid-90s before becoming the inaugural coach of Queensland Cup side Northern Pride – who are the Cowboys feeder team.
But a source close the Raiders told AAP the prospect of losing the club’s highly-rated assistant coach, who has also worked as Rick Stone’s No.2 at Newcastle, to a rival club was a factor in the decision to axe Furner before the end of the season.
Cowboys chief executive Peter Jourdain refused to discuss Dunemann’s application.
“We don’t want to conduct our search for a coach through the media,” Jourdain told AAP.
“But we are going through the process now and interviewing candidates and want to get it done as quickly as we can.
“Ideally we would like to have someone in place by mid-to-late September before the players return for training on November 1.”
Jourdain said the club has been deluged with applications for the role, which will be held by Neil Henry until the end of the season, but have yet to make a decision.
“The interest has been considerable and there are some very capable people interested which is no real surprise,” he said.
Dunemann said he is interested in securing the Raiders job permanently but would be foolish to put all his eggs in one basket.
“I want to be an NRL head coach, I’ve never hidden the fact,” he said.
“By ruling yourself out of one, I think that would be dumb. Whatever one came up, I’d jump at it.”
One man who will not be in the running is NSW coach Laurie Daley who’s named was linked with his former club.
“I have a contract with NSW and I will be coaching them next year,” Daley said.
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