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 ran an editorial yesterday 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 Canberra chairman John McIntyre said last night Furner, who is Henry's assistant, would get the job and would take on increasing responsibility as the season progressed.
"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' first 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.
"Neil Henry is a professional coach, and I'm sure he will continue to do his job in a professional manner, but for the rest of the season David will move up and begin taking on more responsibility in a similar way that Wayne Bennett did with Don Furner."
The elevation of Furner to the head coaching job will put the family in control of both the on- and off-field direction of the club, with his brother, Don junior, the Raiders chief executive.
But while he was singing the praises of David Furner yesterday, McIntyre seemed less impressed with Don after directors were told they had little option but to release Henry.
McIntyre said the board had been unaware of the get-out clause in his contract until yesterday's emergency meeting to consider Henry's request for a release.
"For a few of us, that was a bit of a surprise so I'm probably more disappointed with management than I am with the coach," McIntyre said. "Unfortunately, we seem to live in an era where people look at the wording of a contract to try and find an escape clause rather than just stick by their word, but we'll get by."
With Henry gone to the Cowboys, the Broncos are expected to intensify their bid to lure Melbourne's Craig Bellamy to Brisbane next season - despite him also being contracted for another year. But Storm chief executive Brian Waldron is confident Brisbane's signing of Israel Folau isn't a sign that Bellamy is planning to head north, and said that the premiership-winning mentor remained committed to the club.
"Of course he is," Waldron said. "No one worked as hard to convince Israel to stay as Craig did, because he knows this is the right place. We are very comfortable about our relationship with Craig. He's here for another two years, at least, and for all intents and purpose, he'll be here longer. He's committed to us; we're committed to him."
Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen said yesterday Folau had "fallen into our laps" as he wanted to move closer to his family in Brisbane and had signed for less than he could have if he had re-signed with Melbourne.
Cullen said Folau's deal was for two years with a two-year option, and admitted that if the teenage sensation became the superstar people predicted, it would be hard to retain him under the salary cap.
