Canberra Raiders On his return to Australia from England, Furner took on a role as assistant-coach at the Canberra Raiders in 2006. In 2008, following
Neil Henry's appointment as coach for the
North Queensland Cowboys, Furner was named as Canberra's coach for 2009. A year earlier his brother, Don Furner, Jr., was appointed CEO of the Raiders. Furner's first season with Canberra did not start well with the team only winning 4 games during the first half of the season. He was criticised by fans for changing the dynamic attacking style that was present under his predecessor in 2008. The team performed slightly better during the second half of the season, but still only won a further 5 games, finishing well outside the 8 in 13th spot. 2010 started off equally as badly with the Raiders winning only 4 matches during the first 12 rounds. This continued to deteriorate with the team only winning 6 matches from the first 17 rounds. However a gutsy performance against Manly in Sydney proved to be the catalyst for a great run of form that resulted in the Raiders playing the best football they have played since 2003, including the first finals win in approximately 10 years. Terry Campese's knee injury during the match ended the fairy tale was not to be with Wests Tigers winning after a
Jarrod Croker missed penalty that would have tied the match in front of a sold out Bruce Stadium. The
2011 NRL season began with many experts predicting the Raiders to finish in the top 4 and be real premiership contenders. Though the team got off to almost the worst possible start, winning only 1 of its first 9 games with Furner claiming the dubious honour of coaching the team to the most consecutive losses in its history, with 8 straight defeats between round 2 and round 9 of that year. He found his position at the club under intense criticism from fans however his security was guaranteed by the club publicly. The season ended only marginally better than it started with the club ultimately only winning 6 games and finishing in second last place which was the worst result for the club since winning only 4 matches in its debut season in 1982. Furner lost his position three rounds before the conclusion of the 2013 season.
North Queensland Cowboys In November 2013, Furner joined the
North Queensland Cowboys as an assistant to head coach
Paul Green. On 4 October 2015, Furner was a member of the Cowboys' coaching staff in the side's 17-16
Grand Final victory over the
Brisbane Broncos.
South Sydney Rabbitohs In 2017, after three seasons at the Cowboys, Furner joined the
South Sydney Rabbitohs as an assistant coach.
Leeds Rhinos In September 2018, Furned signed a 3-year contract to return to
Super League side
Leeds Rhinos in the head coach role, a side he previously played for. After 5 wins and 11 losses combined during the
2019 Super League season and
2019 Challenge Cup, Furner had his contract with Leeds terminated.
Newcastle Knights In September 2019, it was announced that Furner would be joining the
Newcastle Knights as an assistant coach in 2020, under new Knights head coach
Adam O'Brien.
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs In October 2020, Furner moved to the Bulldogs as an assistant coach to newly-appointed head coach
Trent Barrett. == References ==