Canberra Raiders hand David Furner redemption CANBERRA coach David Furner last night passed up the chance to thumb his nose at those who wanted him sacked after the Raiders scored another upset victory, this time over Canterbury.
A few hours before the 20-12 success at Canberra Stadium, Furner went before the club board to discuss the Raiders' poor start to the season.
"His position was not discussed. We have a contract with him and he has a contract with us," director John Mackay said.
Mackay and fellow directors were feeling vindicated after the Green Machine absorbed a comeback by the Bulldogs but Furner wasn't allowing himself to express any satisfaction after fans slammed him on message boards. And there were some unpleasant exchanges in the street between supporters and the friends and family of staff and players.
"Who are the critics?" Furner said, when asked about the issue. "I don't get on those (forums).
"It would have been pretty cruel if we had lost that game.
"The one thing about this is that we're all in this together. We had a good win last week (over Melbourne) and backed it up but we're not getting carried away."
Raiders captain Alan Tongue said the 11 weeks since the last home victory "hasn't been good but we try not to get caught up in that. Players are competitive anyway."
At one stage late in the first half, Canterbury had been tackled 32 times in the opposition's 20m zone and Canberra not once.
And yet the Raiders still led 10-0 at half-time.
Left out of Origin I, Canterbury's Jamal Idris and Ben Barba were probably the best individuals on the field in the first session. Centre Idris pulled off thunderous hits on Nathan Massey, Dane Tilse and Jarrod Croker while fullback Barba bounced out of tackles.
But as the above stat suggests, they were constantly frustrated by Canberra's determined defence.
The first try came from a bomb and Joel Thompson finally found a gap to slip through in the 11th minute.
Rookie Canterbury hooker Josh Reynolds was penalised for using a teammate as a shepherd when he burrowed over from acting half at 24 minutes.
And 120 seconds later, the Raiders were in again when winger Reece Robinson snatched an intercept from Andrew Ryan and raced 35 metres to score a try which centre Croker converted.
Canberra extended its lead nine minutes into the second half when Robinson got to Sam Williams' attempted 40-20 just 10 metres from the Bulldogs' line.
A quick play-the-ball from Croker allowed late inclusion Joe Picker to crash over to score and Croker's conversion made it 16-0.
But the Raiders are still occasionally known as the Faders.
Canterbury second-rower Frank Pritchard popped a wonderful ball, milliseconds before hitting the ground, for Josh Morris to open his side's account with a converted 65th-minute try.
Soon after Pritchard delivered another miracle ball to New Zealand compatriot Greg Eastwood and Barba streeted the desperate cover to make it six points the difference with 11 minutes still to play.
Croker's late penalty goal kept the home team out of trouble and gave them their first home win since round one.
"Frank Pritchard almost got the game out of the fire for us. He's been good all year," Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said. "But it wasn't up to the standards we set ourselves."
CANBERRA 20 (J Thompson R Robinson J Picker tries; J Croker 4 goals)
CANTERBURY 12 (J Morris B Barba tries; S Turner 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referees: S Hayne, C James. Crowd: 12,865.
Source: The Australian
Topic: Canberra Raiders hand David Furner redemption
