Canberra Raiders captain Alan Tongue has opened up about the departure of former coach Neil Henry and revealed the playing group felt Henry had walked out on the verge of something special.
Speaking ahead of Henry's return to Canberra Stadium at the helm of the North Queensland Cowboys on Monday, Tongue said the Raiders held no personal animosity towards their former coach.
But they were disappointed at the timing of his departure.
Henry broke his contract with the Raiders to join the Cowboys at the end of last season, following two years as Canberra's head coach.
Tongue said the Raiders had finally clicked towards the end of last season and felt they were on the verge of becoming an NRL powerhouse after spending 18 months learning and perfecting Henry's structures.
With Henry gone they had to start all over again under new coach David Furner.
''The disappointment was that we felt that Neil was here and the things he'd structured were really coming along and he was going to be here for a number of years,'' Tongue said.
''Then all of a sudden he broke his contract and wanted to get out.
''We'd worked extremely hard and it was a tough first year under Neil.
''It seemed like we did a lot of the hard work there and we started to really get the rewards at the back end of the second year. It just felt like that momentum really could have kept going under Neil after what felt like such a lot of hard work.
''I suppose the disappointment was losing him as a quality coach, it wasn't that he betrayed us or anything like that.''
The Raiders haven't posted a win under Furner so far this season, having spent the off-season working on new structures and game plans.
But while Tongue admitted losing Henry had stalled some of the momentum the Raiders used to charge into the top eight last season, he was excited by the fact Furner was in for the long haul.
Furner played 200 games for the Raiders between 1992 and 2000, winning the Clive Churchill medal in the 1994 grand final.
His father, Don, was the Raiders' inaugural coach, while his brother, Don jnr, is the club's chief executive.
Furner also spent two years working as an assistant under Henry before taking over as head coach at the end of last season.
Tongue said the playing group was confident Furner would never walk out on it.
''That's one of the exciting things about Dave Furner being the head coach,'' Tongue said.
''He's an extremely hard-working coach and he's here as long as the club needs him.
''He's obviously extremely disappointed [to be winless], he's as passionate as anyone about winning footy games.
''Most coaches are like that, but Dave is right up there in his passion.
''He's there from dawn to dusk, day in, day out just working hard.
''He just lives and breathes footy.''
The Cowboys will arrive in Canberra on Sunday night after training that morning in Townsville.
The Raiders will continue their preparations with an opposed session this afternoon.
MONDAY
NRL round four: Canberra Raiders v North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium, 7pm.
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