After the South Sydney Rabbitohs confirmed the exits of Sam Burgess and John Morris for next year, the club has to look for candidates to replace them as assistant coaches.
With Burgess departing for the head coaching role at the Warrington Wolves and Morris agreeing to a four-year contract with the Wests Tigers as an assistant coach, David Furner has emerged as the leading replacement, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
Furner is currently in the first year of a two-year deal with the Tigers as an assistant coach but seems to be on the outs of the club after the sacking of Tim Sheens. Given he was brought in by Sheens and the arrival of John Morris, the club may be looking to revamp the coaching staff as the Benji Marshall era begins.
"According to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the private talks, the Rabbitohs had already discussed bringing Furner back to the club before the Tigers announced Morris' defection on Wednesday," the publication stated.
A former Canberra Raiders forward between 1992-2000, Furner's coaching career began in 2006 following his retirement. He had two stints as head coach during his career. The first was with the Raiders for five seasons between 2009-2013, where he achieved a 43 per winning percentage, and the second was with the Leeds Rhinos in 2019.
While he has only been a head coach for a combined six seasons, he has worked under Neil Henry (Raiders- 2006-09), Paul Green (Cowboys- 2013-16), Michael Maguire (Rabbitohs- 2017), Anthony Seibold (Rabbitohs- 2018), Adam O'Brien (Knights- 2020) and Trent Barrett (Bulldogs- 2021) as an assistant coach.
If he does return back to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, it would be a homecoming for Furner, who reportedly still remains very popular with players at the club.