Australia's preparations ahead of Friday night's Anzac rugby league test against the Kiwi's were thrown into chaos before they had even had a chance to begin with assistant coach David Furner considering his involvement with the Kangaroos due to Canberra's disastrous NRL form.
The Raiders slumped to their seventh straight loss - one shy of a 25-year record - with a heavy 49-12 loss to Wests Tigers on Sunday, coach Furner admitting now may not be the best time to be abandoning the squad for a week-long camp with Australia on the Gold Coast.
Test coach Tim Sheens, who was partially to blame for Furner's predicament given it was his Tigers who inflicted the Canberra Stadium mauling, said he would give Furner - who began his NRL playing career under Sheens at Canberra in 1992 - plenty of time to make the call.
Sheens said there was no back-up plan should Furner not join the squad, with Tigers assistant Peter Gentle left as his only coaching offsider in the Australian set-up.
