AN EXPLETIVE-laden blow-up with coach David Furner shapes as the final straw in Josh Dugan's tumultuous career at Canberra. The star fullback will front the Raiders board tomorrow to explain a 24-hour bender with teammate Blake Ferguson after Sunday's heavy loss to Penrith.
Both players have been stood down indefinitely, but Dugan might not be seen in lime green again after engaging Furner in a heated and abusive verbal confrontation yesterday morning.
After he missed both Monday's recovery session and yesterday's weights program, a fuming Furner confronted Dugan at the ACT residence where he'd spent much of the previous day and night drinking with Ferguson and other non-footballing friends.
Dugan was equally angry with the coach, who is believed to have questioned his opening round effort. The pair traded colourful insults and remarks, with the 22-year-old showing scant respect for Furner's authority.
Dugan then travelled to Sydney to meet with his management, where he spent last night.
He's expected to return to the ACT later today, with Raiders management already ordering Dugan to attend the board meeting
Chairman John McIntyre indicated last night the club was prepared to counsel Dugan through his issues, but working under Furner now appears an unlikely task after yesterday's stunning exchange. McIntyre was aware of the Furner incident, but refused to confirm Dugan's days were numbered. "He's got some issues and we need to help him with that," McIntyre said.
Dugan took to Twitter to apologise for breaking team protocol and revealed the extent of his problems.
"I apologise to my teammates and the fans but this is personal and needs to be sorted out as soon as possible for me to move forward," Dugan tweeted. "This goes beyond the drinking while injured. Yes I've broken team rules but for me it goes deeper and I plan on sorting it out."
Most thought Dugan was referring to his private life, which includes an up-and-down relationship with his long-term partner, who is also pregnant with the couple's first child.
But his close associates and friends knew better, having been made aware of Dugan's deteriorating respect for Furner over the off-season.
He's also expressed private regrets over re-signing last February in preference to a lucrative offer from Canterbury. That attitude has not impressed the Raiders' senior leadership group, which includes co-captains David Shillington and Josh McCrone, Shaun Fensom, Brett White, Shaun Berrigan and Tom Leoroyd-Lahrs.
They met yesterday and agreed that Dugan and Ferguson must be dumped from the side to tackle the Gold Coast.
It's the second time in the past 12 months they've been stood down, with the pair also missing last year's Round 12 clash against Souths for drinking while injured.
Ferguson was also fined $5000 for spitting at a patron at an ACT music festival over Christmas, but is expected to survive because his attitude towards football and training has generally remained positive.
St George Illawarra shape as an obvious option should Dugan leave the Raiders. The Dragons have plenty of
space to move under this year's salary cap and coach Steve Price attempted to woo Dugan to the club last year.