Sheens confirmed Furner would remain his right-hand man for the Kangaroos at the World Cup starting in Britain in October, despite Furner being sacked by the Raiders last week.

It sets up an unusual partnership, with Sheens and Furner having both lost their NRL jobs in the past year.

But Sheens insisted it would be to Australia's advantage, with both coaches re-enforcing their commitment to winning back the world champion tag from New Zealand.

Furner has escaped the scrutiny of Canberra by taking his family to the south coast, but he and Sheens have already talked and shifted attention to World Cup preparations.

With no club commitments, they are looking to attend Saturday's blockbuster match between Manly and Melbourne and firm up plans for their World Cup campaign.

''I've got all the confidence in the world in him, [his sacking] hasn't changed anything, if anything it gives us a bit more time to get ready,'' Sheens said.

''We both focused on the World Cup a couple of years ago as being the pinnacle of what we wanted to achieve, trying to get that title back from the Kiwis. That hasn't changed, it's probably just become clearer in his mind, and certainly mine all year, that's what we're here to do this year.

''I know David, I know his personality, he'll throw himself into his job 100 per cent.

''I think he brings plenty to the Australian side. The players respond to him, he's done a good job, we've had some reasonably good success. I'm more than happy with his input into the team.''

Sheens and Furner have had a long association - Furner was the Clive Churchill medallist in Canberra's 1994 premiership win, Sheens' third with the Raiders.

When Sheens was sacked as Wests Tigers coach last September, Furner asked about him rejoining the Raiders staff as a coaching director.

Sheens said the Raiders had not approached him about a potential return to Canberra since Furner's sacking and he would not be ''side-tracked'' from his focus on the World Cup.

Sheens said representative football was dominated by coaches not active in the NRL, including State of Origin coaches Laurie Daley and Mal Meninga, and Meninga's Queensland assistant Michael Hagan.

City coach Brad Fittler is also not an active coach in the NRL.

''It gives you plenty of time to look at the form of all players across the board, not just your own team, and that's been a big bonus for me,'' Sheens said.

''David for the rest of the year will obviously have an eye on how the Raiders go, but also we'll be looking at how everybody's going prior to selection.''

Disappointed by the season-ending injury to centre Justin Hodges, Sheens would not be drawn when asked if he would like to see suspended Raiders centre Blake Ferguson back playing NRL.

''There's no certainty for anyone in the game to be selected, bar a handful because they've been the core of the side for some years. But for new guys to make the squad anything could happen over the next few weeks.''