David Furner targets Bulldogs wingers in tactical masterpiece

AS the first coach in four months to out-think the Bulldogs, David Furner is entitled to wonder why his job was on the line a few weeks ago.

AFTER becoming the first coach in four months to out-think the Bulldogs, David Furner was last night entitled to wonder why his job was on the line a few short weeks ago.

With the Raiders mounting an unlikely finals ambush, Furner produced a strategic masterpiece to out-point the best in the business - Canterbury's Des Hasler.

His pre-match plan was to target Canterbury wingers Jono Wright and Sam Perrett with early kicks designed to exploit their up-and-in defence.

Halves Sam Williams and Josh McCrone could not have executed more perfectly.

And when the demolition job was carried out with surgical precision it left behind a tale of two very different wingers. On the victorious side was mid-season Raiders transfer Sandor Earl, who sealed a hat-trick and might have bagged four tries but for a contentious video referee decision.

On the other side was his opposite Jono Wright, who endured a nightmare bad enough to make the mind-numbing bus ride back to Belmore seem like a mouth-watering prospect.

The irony for Wright was that he was doubtful starter, with his partner due to give birth before kick-off. He took the field and what transpired was enough to make even neutral fans cringe with sympathy. On two occasions Earl got behind Wright to score from grubbers, before outleaping him to seal the treble.

To make matters worse, Wright also spilled a first-half bomb that led to Mark Nichols' 39th-minute try and was also pushed into touch shortly beforehand.

Earl's counterpart Reece Robinson also crossed for a double opposite Perrett, giving rival finalists a telling clue about where to head should they encounter Canterbury in September.

"We actually pinpointed both sides, and I was just lucky the halves executed really well on my side," Earl said.

"After a while it became a bit of a free-for-all. It was just a matter of how many times we wanted to do it. To tell you the truth, I'm amazed at how good the coach's game plans are."

Wright declined to speak afterwards, but Bulldogs coach Des Hasler gave every indication he would maintain faith in the Sharks-bound flanker.