David Furner

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Saturday, 6th February, 1971
Current Age
53 years and 41 days
Place Of Birth
Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Clive Churchill Medal
1994

Biography

Son of former Australian coach Don Furner and a product of Queanbeyan Whites RU club, David Furner represented Australian RU Under 17s and Under 21s before joining Canberra in 1991. Selected for City Origin in 1993, the young backrower developed into a clever ball-player with a deceptive step. His naming as the Clive Churchill Medal winner in Canberra's 1994 grand final win over C’bury propelled him into the Kangaroo squad (interestingly, his father Don Furner, Chairman of Selectors, abstained from voting). A reserve in Australia's First Test loss at Wembley Furner's open play and capable goal-kicking skills were seen to good effect on tour. Furner was one of the last of the Canberra players to join Super League, a decision that could not have been easy given the fact that he father worked for the ARL. While Furner was a State of Origin rep in 1996 and again in 1998 after the reunification of the game, his only international matches after the 1994 Kangaroo Tour were during Super League’s 1997 season. In 1999 Furner was called into the NSW team as a replacement for the suspended David Barnhill in the historic third State of Origin match that finished in a draw. The highest point-scorer in the history of the Canberra club Furner surpassed Bernie Purcell’s long-standing record as the greatest point-scoring forward in the history of the game before leaving the Raiders at the end of 2000 to play for Wigan. A try-scorer in the club’s Challenge Cup final win in 2002 Furner moved to Leeds in 2003 as Wigan struggled under salary cap restrictions. He ended his career as a member of the Leeds team that defeated Bradford in the English Super League grand final in 2004. Furner then returned to Australia to take up an assistant coach’s role with the Raiders and was appointed team manager of the NSW ‘Blues’ for 2005.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 200 49 511   - 1218 128 69 3 64.00% List
NRL Finals 15 2 30   - 68 7 8 0 46.67% List
Tour Matches Australia 9 2 24   - 56 8 1 0 88.89% List
Test Series 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
The Ashes 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
City vs Country 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
State of Origin 8 1 -   - 4 6 1 1 75.00% List
Anzac Tests 1 2 -   - 8 1 0 0 100.00% List
Challenge Cup 12 4 15   - 46 9 3 0 75.00% List
Super League 98 29 36   - 188 68 25 5 69.39% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1994 2 1 -   - 4 1 1 0 50.00% List
Australia (SL) 1997 1 2 -   - 8 1 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1994-1997 3 3 0   0 12 2 1 0 66.67% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW 1996, 1998-00 8 1 -   - 4 6 1 1 75.00% List
NSW Country 1996 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW (SL) 1997 3 - 3   - 6 3 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1996-2000 12 1 3   0 10 10 1 1 83.33% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canberra NSWRL 1992 16 4 43 / 63 68.25% - 102 8 8 0 50.00% List
Canberra NSWRL 1993 24 5 71 / 116 61.21% - 162 16 7 1 66.67% List
Canberra NSWRL 1994 25 6 86 / 133 64.66% - 196 20 5 0 80.00% List
Canberra ARL 1995 23 10 79 / 131 60.31% - 198 20 3 0 86.96% List
Canberra ARL 1996 20 5 62 / 86 72.09% - 144 11 8 1 55.00% List
Canberra Super League 1997 18 5 48 / 69 69.57% - 116 10 8 0 55.56% List
Canberra NRL 1998 26 5 74 / 110 67.27% - 168 16 10 0 61.54% List
Canberra NRL 1999 23 6 10 / 22 45.45% - 44 13 9 1 56.52% List
Canberra NRL 2000 25 3 38 / 53 71.70% - 88 14 11 0 56.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canberra 1992-00 200 49 511 / 783 65.26% - 1218 128 69 3 64.00% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Wigan 2001 32 13 5   - 62 23 8 1 71.88% List
Wigan 2002 26 8 8   - 48 18 7 1 69.23% List
Leeds 2003 32 8 27   - 86 20 9 3 62.50% List
Leeds 2004 20 4 11   - 38 16 4 0 80.00% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Wigan 2001-02 58 21 13   - 110 41 15 2 70.69% List
Leeds 2003-04 52 12 38   - 124 36 13 3 69.23% List
Overall2001-2004 110 33 51   0 234 77 28 5 70.00% List

Your Say

  • johnno
    02/07/2012

    David Furner would be the first second-rower picked in the Best Ever Raiders Team. He was a brilliant attacking forward possessing a big side-step, a wonderful supporting player, and a very strong defender. On top of that, he was the goal kicker. At the time he left the Raiders, at the end of 2000 season, he was the highest point-scoring forward ever in Australian Rugby League, a State of Origin representative for NSW, a Kangaroo, and a Clive Churchill Medallist. All of this would indicate he was an exceptional player.

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, Terry Liberopoulos, Bill Bates, Steven Russo, Alan Katzmann

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, Richard Bailey's Rugby League World, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995