Furner assumes Raiders coacing
position

Former Australian rugby league backrower David Furner will return to Canberra next year to begin a new career as coach of the Raiders' premier league team.

Furner, 33, quit the Raiders at the end of the 2000 season and has spent the past four years playing for English Super League teams Wigan and Leeds.

The 1994 Churchill Medallist will take over as the Raiders' premier league coach from Wayne Collins, who has been promoted to first grade assistant coach next season.

Furner holds the record as the highest point scoring forward in the history of the game.

He has played 200 first grade games for the Raiders and over 100 matches in the UK.

"I am very excited by the challenge and looking forward to the next chapter of my footballing career," Furner said.

"The fact that I will be with the Raiders means more to me than you could imagine."

But he said he had one more goal to fulfil before hanging up his boots in England.

Furner's Leeds team is currently nine points ahead of second-placed Bradford on the Super League table and has one more regular season match on Friday against the London Broncos.

Furner said a grand final win, to add to his Challenge Cup victory with Wigan in 2002, would complete his playing career.

He said returning to the Raiders in the coaching ranks had always been an ambition.

"I am very thankful to (first grade coach) Matty Elliott for the opportunity," Furner said.

"He has a very good reputation over here in the UK and I am looking forward to working for him."

Elliott said Furner would bring a wealth of playing experience to the Raiders and had trained under some of the best coaching structures in the business.

"It is hard to get his experience and I am just glad he will be with us," he said.