Dave Furner pledges full commitment to Leeds

Leeds head coach Dave Furner has dismissed speculation in Australia about his future and has pledged his future to the Rhinos.

Over the last couple of days, Australian reports suggested that South Sydney Rabbitohs were going to try and get Furner to stay on next year as head coach, despite him having already signed a new deal with Leeds.

The rumours proved to be false, with the Rabbitohs announcing the appointment of England boss Wayne Bennett on Thursday.

Rhinos’ chief executive Gary Hetherington squashed the speculation on Wednesday and Furner himself has now pledged his full commitment to the Leeds club.

Furner said: “Since the appointment I have been looking forward to starting my relationship again with Leeds Rhinos, the staff and the fans.

“I don’t want to give fuel to any speculation and I just want to say I am booked, I am coming to Leeds on November 5, and I can’t wait to get started.

“I am looking forward to getting over to Leeds and meeting the current squad so I can start to build my relationship with those players.

“I am excited about Konrad [Hurrell] and Tui [Lolohea] coming over. Having spoken to both players they are very excited about playing at Emerald Headingley for Leeds.

“It has been very busy for the last four weeks, meeting with players and their managers as well as getting ready to move to England.”