Sick and tired senior players want Blake Ferguson sacked from Canberra, with Test front-rower David Shillington quitting the club's leadership group over the leniency shown by coach David Furner to the banned NSW State of Origin winger.

In a development indicative of tension behind the scenes in the national capital, it can be revealed senior players are unhappy they continue to be overruled in their efforts to come down hard on the wayward winger, and previously, their problematic former fullback Josh Dugan.

Unhappy: Raiders Test front-rower David Shillington has expressed his discontent by quitting the club's leadership group. Credit:Jay Cronan

The final straw for fed-up Australian prop Shillington came when the 23-year-old was not sacked after police charged him with the indecent assault of a woman at a Cronulla nightclub last month. Ferguson, who was out with Dugan on the evening of the alleged offence, was to enter NSW Origin camp with his former club teammate the next day but subsequently had his registration suspended by the NRL.

He is due to face Waverley Local Court next Tuesday, the day before the third and deciding match of the Origin series in Sydney. While Ferguson has been sidelined by administrators since the incident, the issue of his future remains a bone of contention in Canberra. Shillington's standing down from the senior player group followed that of another former member of thatunit, Shaun Berrigan. According to club sources, the leadership group – which after Shillington's withdrawal comprises captain Terry Campese, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Dane Tilse, Brett White, Shaun Fensom, Josh McCrone and new member Jarrod Croker – wanted Ferguson's contract torn up after he and Dugan missed a recovery session in March and posted a photograph online that showed them drinking.