Furner aiming to return to refereeing after brain tumour

NRL referee Darian Furner is aiming to join the game’s leading match officials for the start of 2025 pre-season training as he continues his fight to overcome a brain tumour.

Furner, who fell ill while in Papua New Guinea to officiate during last year’s Pacific Championships, outlined his ambition to return to refereeing ranks during Wednesday’s launch of the NRL’s Beanie for Brain Cancer Round.

With Beanie for Brain Cancer Round holding even more significance for Furner after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour last November, he had initially hoped to return by this weekend but complications during surgery set those plans back.

“It’s just small steps now,” Furner said. “Originally, I was planning to hopefully be back by this round because it has such a big meaning for myself but unfortunately, I fell into that four per cent [of patients] with the surgery not going as well as they would have liked.

“I hope to be back training by the end of the year.”

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said it was inspirational to see Furner at the launch of Beanie for Brain Cancer Round, and underscored the work the game does each year with the Mark Hughes Foundation to raise funds and awareness.

“Darian has been recovering from a brain tumour operation and is undergoing chemotherapy, so it was wonderful to see him here, looking healthy in his battle to beat his tumour,” Abdo said.

“It is a reminder of what this round is all about, and it is a reminder of why investing money and raising money for research to help people battling against any form of cancer is so important.”

“I look forward to seeing him recover and hopefully seeing him on the field again once he has completed his treatment.”

Furner attended the launch at Allianz Stadium after undergoing a dose of chemotherapy, which he receives Monday to Friday each week. 

“We're 18 days in now, so we're just over the halfway point,” he said. “We finish up on July 3, and the tumour could still be there for another 18 months before it fully is gone. That’s the hope anyway.”

A touch judge in the women’s World Cup final in 2022 at Old Trafford, Furner has refereed NRL and NRLW matches.

The 31-year-old was at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby when he told fellow referees Belinda Sharp and Phil Henderson that he wasn’t feeling well.

“I was having a shower and then when I got out of the shower, my limbs weren’t working, I felt a bit funny and I got an instant headache,” Furner said.

“I got dressed and I thought, the best medical treatment would be at the ground, so I just made my way to the ground but there definitely wasn't any way I was going to be doing the game.

“The medic came in and told me to go to hospital to get checked for head and heart, so that's what I did.”

Furner was diagnosed with a bleed on the brain and airlifted to Australia, where he was initially admitted to hospital on the Gold Coast.

“It probably wasn't until just before Christmas time, when I found out that I actually had the tumour,” he said.

“They knew there was a bleed there, but they didn't know it was a tumour until six weeks later.”

While Furner is recovering, his wife Emma has had to take on the added responsibly of looking after him, as well as their three young children.

He is also thankful for the support of his fellow NRL match officials, who invited him and Emma for a morning tea after the Beanie for Brain Cancer launch.

“Obviously having a brain tumour myself now, it was already a big round as it was but it's a lot more meaningful now, going through it myself,” Furner said.

“The refs have been very supportive from day dot, but it just helps with the players getting behind the round as much as they do now. It really does wonders.

“It's not just for me, it's for my wife and the kids, as well, because they're all going through something similar, and it’s just such a very big change.”

Beanies are also available online from all Lowes Australia stores, participating NSW/QLD/ACT IGA Australia stores or at www.markhughesfoundation.com.au.