Furner says no to Aussies for Raiders' sake2 May 2011, 12:01 pmEmbattled Canberra coach David Furner has confirmed he will not take his place as Australian assistant coach for Friday night's Test against New Zealand.
In the wake of the Raiders' 49-12 thrashing by Wests Tigers on Sunday, their seventh consecutive loss, Furner said his priority is with his NRL club.
Tipped by many to be semi-finalists earlier in the year, the Raiders have recorded just one win from eight matches and sit in last position on the ladder.
But Furner says his side must now regroup as it prepares to play Manly next Monday.
"[Yesterday's loss] was unacceptable - I've spoken about that with the players. It's totally unacceptable to be in that situation, so we've got to build out way out of it," he told ABC Grandstand.
"It's a tremendous honour, but for me, my priority's here [with the Raiders].
"I need to stand by the players and we've got to dig our way out of it. I spoke to Tim [Sheens], he was fine with that.
"For the players and for myself, we stand side by side. It's a tremendous group here and I don't like the position the group's in at the moment.
"It's not a case of won't be, never will be or giving up, its about working as hard as we can in getting out of this position."
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ABC/AAPSource: Tag: Rugby League - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Topic: Furner says no to Aussies for Raiders' sake
