Things are really bad at the Canberra Raiders.
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Chairman John McIntyre cleared his throat on Tuesday, then described it as one of the saddest days in the club's history.
Let's put that in context.
The Raiders lost their inaugural captain, David Grant, at just 38 years of age, to a heart attack in 1994.
The Raiders lost a substantial part of their playing squad, and McIntyre lost his job as chief executive, when the Raiders cheated the $1.5 million salary cap by some $600,000 in 1991.
The Raiders lost the club's community identity, and plenty of fans, when they aligned with Super League in 1997.
But never, in 32 seasons, have the Raiders lost a coach, at their very own hands. They have not just sacked a coach, but a man swaddled in lime green his entire life.
David Furner, was at the club on day one. He was the Raiders ballboy sitting beside the first Raiders coach, his father Don snr, in the front row of the team bus.
He was a champion player who suited up in 200 first grade games for the club, best and fairest in their last premiership, in 1994.
Mid-season last year, when it genuinely looked like he would be sacked, Furner stubbornly battled through to coach the Raiders to the finals as his wife Kellie was secretly battling breast cancer.
So how bad have things become at the Raiders? Bad enough that the club's board sent chief executive Don jnr to Raiders team camp on the south coast on Tuesday to personally deliver an immediate termination notice to his little brother.
Let's not cry crocodile tears for David Furner, because his winning percentage warranted serious scrutiny.
In five seasons at the helm, Canberra had tracked more inconsistently than a dodgy shopping trolley. He finishes with only a 44 per cent winning ratio.
In a profession that demands results, he deserved to be under pressure before this.
But any questions previously to the Raiders of Furner's coaching credentials had been dismissed with contempt.
In June last year, after a 40-0 loss to the Wests Tigers, I asked McIntyre if Furner would see his contract out until the end of 2014?
''Yes, most definitely,'' came the defiant response.
''I don't like to think that I'm a grumpy old man but I am pretty boneheaded. I have a lot of confidence in my ability to know whether the right person is in the right job.''
Then, just 48 days ago, the Raiders sitting 11th on the NRL ladder, The Canberra Times quizzed McIntyre about Furner's performance again.
''We're pretty comfortable with the fact David will be there, and he'll be there for the long haul … he's highly thought of outside of the Canberra Raiders,'' McIntyre said.
What about inside?
The Raiders are now placed ninth on the NRL ladder, two spots better than when McIntyre made that comment, and still a shot at making the finals. So why sack Furner now? Because things are really bad at the Raiders.
There is no doubt player power contributed to Furner's sacking.
Senior players had grown frustrated at the leniency shown to misbehaving stars such as Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson in the past. The pair have made this 2013 campaign a disaster from the start.
Player grumblings became louder and eventually led to mutiny from some.
So what to make of the timing of the sacking, three games out from the finals?
Why not sack him at the end of the season, afford a Raiders legend a final lap of honour and a dignified exit?
The Raiders have lost their past
three games, including a 68-4 defeat to Melbourne, the biggest lost in club history.
But maybe the board feared Furner could lead another short revival and make the finals. Would they have stuck to their guns and fired him then?
Tuesday was supposed to be the day the Raiders decided Ferguson's fate. It was supposed to be D-Day for whether a wayward star prone to problems with alcohol was simply worth the trouble.
For the past few weeks Raiders news has been dominated by how Ferguson and rookie sensation Anthony Milford have wanted releases, but how the club would be digging in their heels and forcing them to honour their contracts. Instead, the Raiders board met on Tuesday and unanimously decided to tear up the contract of the coach.
Things are really, really bad at the Raiders.
It could take far more than a new coach to fix it.