Murray began his coaching career with appointments as reserve grade coach at
Penrith, where he won a premiership in 1987 and helped develop many of the future 1991 first-grade premiership team, and
Balmain.
Illawarra Steelers Murray was made coach of the
Illawarra Steelers for the
1991 Winfield Cup season. In 1992, he guided the club to its only ever trophy with a 4–2 win in a tryless final against the
Brisbane Broncos in the pre-season Toohey's Cup. He then took Illawarra to its first finals appearance in that season's
Winfield Cup competition. During his tenure, the Steelers won more games than they lost, after having been perennial cellar-dwellers for the first decade of the club's existence. Murray was dismissed as head 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 hundreds of players, coaches and administrators involved with the Super League saga to lose his job as a direct consequence of the brewing war. Murray was the coach of the
Fiji team in the
1995 World Cup, winning one game and losing two.
Hunter Mariners Installed as coach of
Super League's
Newcastle-based
Hunter Mariners club for its one and only season in 1997, Murray was able to construct a competitive team despite the apathy of the local rugby league community who were mostly supportive of the
Newcastle Knights, who would popularly go on to win that year's
Australian Rugby League premiership with a last-minute try in the
1997 ARL Grand Final. 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 in 1998.
Leeds Rhinos Left without a team to coach in Australia, Murray joined the
Leeds Rhinos in the
Super League, directing the team to their
1998 Super League Grand Final loss to the
Wigan Warriors and 1999
Challenge Cup victory over the
London Broncos. Murray signed a deal to coach the
North Sydney Bears for the
2000 NRL 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 to become the
Northern Eagles, with this new joint venture to be led by Manly's 1999 coach
Peter Sharp.
Sydney Roosters 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
1980, although they would lose this match 14–6 to minor premiers the
Brisbane Broncos. Murray was also the
NSW City Origin coach from 2001 to 2005. Despite the grand final appearance in 2000 and a sixth-place finish in
2001, Murray was sacked by the Roosters two days after the end of his second season with the club.
North Queensland Cowboys After starting 2002 in his former profession as a teacher of mathematics, he was made head coach of the
North Queensland Cowboys to replace 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
the following season, reaching the
2005 NRL Grand Final, the Cowboys' first, which they lost to the
Wests Tigers by 30 to 16. Murray coached City to victory in the annual contest against Country Origin in 2002, 2003 and 2005. In 2006, Murray was named coach of the
Illawarra Steelers’ "Team of Steel", celebrating the club's 25th anniversary. Murray was appointed coach of the
New South Wales rugby league team for the
2006 State of Origin series; despite winning the first game, the Blues lost the series to Queensland by two games to one. In
2006, the Cowboys missed the finals and finished in ninth position. Murray was re-appointed as New South Wales coach in 2007, with the full support of the North Queensland Cowboys board. Once again, however, New South Wales lost the series by two games to one. In August 2007, Murray announced that he would step down as coach of New South Wales. On 19 May 2008, Murray resigned as coach of the
North Queensland Cowboys. ==Later career==