Graham Murray

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Graham Murray (born January 6, 1955) is currently the coach of the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League.

**Graham Murray**
Personal information
Full name	Graham Murray
Date of birth	January 6, 1955
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Position	Coach
Club information
Current club	North Queensland Cowboys
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
1976-80 1981-83	Parramatta South Sydney	45 43
Professional clubs coached
1991-1995 1997 1998-99 2000-01 2002-present	Illawarra Hunter Leeds Sydney North Qld
Representative teams coached
2006-present	New South Wales
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only.

After previous appointments as reserve grade coach at the Penrith Panthers and the Balmain Tigers, Murray was made coach of the Illawarra Steelers in 1991. He guided the club to its first finals appearance in 1992 and during his tenure, the Steelers always won more games than they lost. He was dismissed as coach in April 1995 after he facilitated negotiations between Steelers players and representatives of the rebel Super League organisation. He was the only person out of the countless players, coaches and administrators involved with the Super League saga to lose his job as a direct consequence of Super League.

Installed as coach of the Newcastle-based Hunter Mariners Super League team, Murray was able to construct a competitive team despite the apathy of the local community who were fully supportive of the Australian Rugby League and the Newcastle Knights. Although they made the final of the World Club Challenge in their first season, the Mariners were shut down as a condition of the establishment of the National Rugby League.

Left without a team to coach in Australia, Murray joined the Leeds Rhinos in the English Super League, directing the team to a Challenge Cup victory and a Super League grand final place. He signed a deal to coach the North Sydney Bears for the 2000 National Rugby League season. However, before he could take up this position, the club was excluded from the competition and forced to merge with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. After the resignation of Phil Gould as coach of the Sydney Roosters, Murray was quickly named as his replacement.

In 2000, Murray proceeded to guide the Roosters to their first grand final since 1975, although they would lose 14-6 to the Brisbane Broncos. Despite a sixth-place finish in 2001, Murray was sacked by the Roosters two days after the end of the season.

After starting 2002 in his former profession as a teacher, he was made head coach of the North Queensland Cowboys when he replaced the sacked Murray Hurst in April. After three seasons of steady improvement, the Cowboys made the NRL finals for the first time in 2004 and finished one game short of the grand final. They improved on their efforts in 2005 when they lost the grand final to the Wests Tigers by 34 points to 16. Murray was appointed coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team in 2006, losing the series to Queensland by 2 games to 1. In 2006 the Cowboys missed the finals and finished in ninth position.

He was re-appointed as New South Wales coach in 2007 with the full support of the North Queensland Cowboys board.

[edit] Playing career

Parramatta Eels 1977-1979 - 45 games
South Sydney Rabbitohs 1981-1983 - 43 games

[edit] Coaching career

Illawarra Steelers - 1991 to 1995 - qualified for NSWRL Top 5 in 1992
Hunter Mariners - 1997 - finalists of the World Club Challenge
Leeds Rhinos - 1997 to 1999 - Challenge Cup Winners in 1999 Super League Grand Finalists 1998
Sydney Roosters - 2000 to 2001 - qualified for NRL Grand Final in 2000 (lost 6-14 to Brisbane Broncos
North Queensland Cowboys - Since 2002
Took penrith panthers to a reserve grade win in 1987
Won Tooheys challenge cup at Illawarra in 1992

[edit] Representative coaching career

NSW City Origin - 2001 to 2005 - won annual contest against Country Origin in 2002, 2003 and 2005
New South Wales State of Origin team - appointed coach for 2006 series

Preceded by Ron Hilditch 1989-1990	Coach Illawarra Steelers 1991-1995	Succeeded by Allan Fitzgibbon 1995
Preceded by team created	Coach Hunter Mariners 1997	Succeeded by team excluded from NRL
Preceded by Dean Bell 1995-1996	Coach Leeds Rhinos 1997-1999	Succeeded by Dean Lance 2000-2001
Preceded by Phil Gould 1995-1999	Coach Sydney Roosters 2000-2001	Succeeded by Ricky Stuart 2002-
Preceded by Murray Hurst 2001-2002	Coach North Queensland Cowboys 2002-	Succeeded by Incumbent