Raiders Turn To Furner Dynasty As Henry Blazes Trail To Cowboys
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday April 1, 2008
DAVID FURNER is set to continue his family's dynasty at Canberra by taking over the coaching job after a stunned Raiders board was yesterday left with no choice but to release Neil Henry to North Queensland when it learnt he had a get-out clause in his contract.
Henry, who was signed to Canberra until the end of next season, enforced a clause in his contract enabling him to leave by giving three months notice so he could take up a five-year deal with the Cowboys.The move is understood to have angered Raiders players after Henry told them just weeks ago he would honour his contract with the club, and there was speculation last night that some believe he should leave immediately to replace Graham Murray, who seems unlikely to see out his final season in North Queensland.With the Cowboys' failure to win a game in the opening three rounds, The Townsville Bulletin yesterday ran an editorial suggesting Murray be axed with a front-page headline describing him as "Dead Coach Walking". After missing out on the North Queensland job, Cowboys assistant Ian Millward has been touted as a replacement for Henry at the Raiders, whose management will meet today to draw up a hit list.But long-serving Canberra chairman John McIntyre last night said that Furner, who is Henry's assistant, would get the job and will begin taking on increasing responsibility as the season progresses."He is one of our own. My wife Anita even used to change his nappies," McIntyre said of Furner, whose father Don was the Raiders' inaugural coach from 1982 to 1987 when he and Wayne Bennett took the club to its inaugural grand final."In terms of bloodlines, David Furner is the Danehill of coaching. His father [Don] was the Australian coach in 1986 when the Kangaroos were undefeated on their tour of England."Before yesterday's announcement, the Raiders had insisted that Henry would not be released amid intense speculation that he wanted to quit the club and return to North Queensland as head coach where he served four years before taking on his first top-level NRL job at Canberra."Canberra Raiders coach Neil Henry will depart Canberra at the end of the 2008 season, after coming to an agreement with the club today," a statement said. Raiders chief executive Don Furner said he would have preferred Henry stay. "The board agreed not to stand in Neil's way and decided he would remain coach of the club until the end of the 2008 season," Furner said. "Neil has agreed to see out the rest of the season and will remain head coach of the Raiders until October 31 this year."Henry said the decision was tough. "This has been the most difficult decision I have [had] to make," he said. "I am grateful for the opportunity that the club has given me, I'm relieved the decision is out of the road, and we're now focused on beating the Titans."Meanwhile, a heart-to-heart chat with North Queensland boss Peter Parr has steeled Murray for what looms as another tough week after the club's passionate fans called for the Cowboys coach's head. Parr admitted the growing criticism of North Queensland's handling of the Cowboys coach was "draining" but claimed the club was determined not to "implode". It is believed Cowboys officials will this week confirm Henry as Murray's 2009 replacement in a bid to help North Queensland players focus. But speculation has intensified that Murray might not see out the season after the Cowboys remained win-less this season following their third straight loss - a 36-2 thrashing at the hands of Brisbane. Murray said in his weekend News Ltd column he had no plans to walk. "While you don't want to bury your head in the sand and not listen to people you've got to be careful about taking the criticism too much to heart," Parr said. "The players, coach and the club are under a lot of pressure. We've got to make sure internally we are strong and don't implode."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
