Graham Murray

A talented halfback, Murray was initially overlooked for grading after playing for P’matta's President's Cup team in 1975. He spent time on the bench with Penrith and actually returned to local club Cabramatta before P’matta’s lower grade coach Len Stacker had his way. Known as 'Little Artie' during his time as a player with P’matta and Souths (after Arthur Beetson) because of his organisational ability and great ball-sense, Murray's first grade appearances were sporadic although he did captain the Eels' reserve grade team to premierships in 1977 and 1979. He then shifted to Souths but ran foul of new coach Ron Willey and took on a captain-coach position with Lismore at the end of 1983. As a lower grade coach with Penrith, his teams qualified for grand finals in 1986-87 (the reserve grade team defeating Manly in the latter year) but he then quit the club in protest over the signing of Ron Willey as first grade coach. After a season with Balmain, Murray was understudy to former Eels teammate Ron Hilditch at I’warra before taking over as first grade coach in 1991. Murray took the Steelers to its first win in a final (Pre-season Challenge Cup) and to within an ace of a grand final appearance in 1992. Named ‘Dally M’ Coach of the Year that year, Murray worked hard over the next two seasons but in the opening rounds of the 1995 season, was sacked for organising private negotiations with Super League. After coaching Fiji in the 1995 World Cup competition, Murray coached Leeds in the English Super League before being named as Peter Louis’ successor at Norths for 2000. However, the Bears’ demise and subsequent merger with Manly left him again without a club – until Phil Gould resigned at the Roosters and Murray was quickly snapped up. In his first season he took the Roosters to the grand final but following the club’s quick exit from the final series in 2001, he was inexplicably sacked with two years remaining on his contract. The City Origin coach in 2001-02, Murray has never been that far away from controversy during his coaching career, and following the sacking of North Queensland’ coach Murray Hurst in April 2002, he was thrown back into the fire as coach of the troubled North Queensland club. In 2004 he was at the helm as the North Queensland defeated eventual premiers the Bulldogs and then Brisbane (for the first time in the club’s history) to qualify for the preliminary final. The following year, the North Queensland made the grand final (losing to the W’Tigers. In 2006, he took over as NSW coach but the Blues lost the series and the North Queensland failed to make the final eight.