Graham Murray - R.I.P

[Porthoz]

Condoleances to the family. Hopefully, it seems they had time to say goodbye...

Respect for the man. May he Rest in Peace!

 

[Kaz]

My condolences to the Murray family & his friends.

Graham passed away at 9.45pm

 

[Black Philip]

That's a damn shame.

May he rest in peace.

 

[Renegade]

rip, sad to hear. 58 isn't exactly on deaths door. =/

 

[Coxy]

It really is sad. Relatively young, (to think, my dad is 25 years older than him!), you can't find a single person involved with rugby league who knew him that has a bad word to say about him. To me that's testament to what a genuine man he was.

I got to meet him very briefly after a Cowboys press conference at Suncorp Stadium after a game, and even though I was an absolute nuffy, not a "real" journo, just working for the Broncos web site, he was generous enough to give me a few minutes of his time for a chat.

Certainly a sad day for the game, but especially his family and friends. They have lost a really good man.

 

[Fozz]

RIP muzza, always seemed a top bloke.

 

[ningnangnong]

He pretty much turned the Cowboys completely around.

When I was growing up, the Cowboys were always the one team you could count on beating, they were that bad - but Murray did an awesome job there and transformed them from easy-beats to consistent premiership contenders.

I remember back in 2004, I bought tickets to the preliminary final in Sydney against the Roosters, which either the Cowboys or Broncos would play in depending on the result of their semi-final (the one which was moved from Suncorp to Dairy Farmers). Anyway, I expected the Broncs to win, so felt pretty confident buying tickets for myself and one of my school chums. Anyway, as we all know the Cowboys beat us, but I still went down to the game and had a blast - that was an awesome Cowboys team. Is there a point to this story? Not really, just that I thought really highly of Graham Murray, and it's bloody sad that he's lost his life.

 

[Big Pete]

RIP Muz.

Murry was my favourite opposition coach when I was younger if only because I recognised his influence on other teams. Like ning, I was really impressed with his work at the Cowboys. He really cultivated a good side bringing through the likes of Bowen, Ty Williams, Payne, Scott, Hannay & surrounded them with quality players like Sing, Norton, Rauhihi, Campion, O'Donnell and of course JT. I really wanted him to win that elusive premiership in 05.

Sadly, it wasn't to be and his coaching career ended on a sour note. I believe he bit off more than he could chew trying to coach NSW just after they lost Joey while trying to keep the Cowboys on top and things just got out of control. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish his departure from the club was handled better because there's little doubt he's the best coach the Cowboys ever had.

You can even say the same for the Steelers and technically the Mariners too.