Turmoil threatens to derail the NRL side’s push for the finals.
Canberra veterans Brett White and Terry Campese have made the stunning admission they spoke to the club’s board before the axing of former coach David Furner.
The shocking news comes in the wake of the drama charged move by the club to dump Furner with just three rounds left in the regular season and the Raiders battling to make the finals.
White said he did speak to the board and admitted that sections of the team were disgruntled with the direction the side was heading.
“In every organisation there’s going to be disgruntlement,” White said.
“I don’t deny there were issues but I’m not going to go into those issues.
“It’s not a public forum. They’re issues that have been brought up before and had been brought up with Dave (Furner).”
Despite lending his voice to the concerns behind scenes about Furner’s ability to lead the team into the post-season and beyond, White claims he was still shocked to hear about the axing of his coach the day after his talk with the board and its major stakeholder.
“He’s a big part of this club and always will be,” White said.
“It’s unfortunate the way it all happened, but it’s done now and we’re prepared to move on and are excited about moving forward.
“We went in there with all good intentions of the club in mind. Those issues have been brought up before in the past.”
Campese said he did not expect his words to carry as much weight as they might have, saying he to could not believe his coach of the past four years was gone.
“It was a shock to me when I heard and my intentions of the meeting that happened was not for Furnsy to get the sack.
“I was definitely disappointed,” Campese said.
He added that he had a great relationship with Furner.
“I’ve worked with him for five years and he was also my reserve grade coach,” Campese said.
“My relationship with Dave can hopefully continue and still be strong.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to Dave yet, I sent him a text message straight away.”
Furner, who also played 200 games for Canberra during his playing days, was in charge of the Raiders for 109 games during his tenure and had a winning percentage of 43 per cent.
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