Canberra have called a press conference for Friday afternoon where it is expected they will announce the sacking of NSW Origin representative Blake Ferguson.

Ferguson was a no-show at Friday morning’s Raiders board meeting, where his future was to be discussed following his failure to return to Canberra last week.

The star centre has been weighing up his Raiders future, having stated a desire to head back to Sydney to be closer to family, including cousin Anthony Mundine.

Ferguson, who went AWOL after being ruled out with injury ahead of the round 23 game against Canterbury, finally surfaced this week when he was involved in a bizarre press conference with Mundine.

The Raiders back sat silent alongside Mundine, who answered questions about Ferguson’s future.

The expected decision by Canberra to terminate Ferguson’s contract appears imminent – with chief executive Don Furner to address the media at 2pm (AEST),

The call to sack Ferguson would only expedite the seemingly inevitable, given Canberra had activated a clause in his contract allowing him to leave with the club’s sacking of coach David Furner last month.

A number of clubs have been linked with Ferguson – who is facing an assault charge which is still before the courts – including former club Cronulla, Canterbury and Parramatta.