“Muppet” Murray: Rugby League Great on Turning 60, Family and Why He Misses the Six-Again Rule

Mark Murray dreaded turning 60 but the former State of Origin halfback and coach has settled more comfortably into being “old” as the years have passed.

“Turning 60 knocked me around a bit,” Mark aka “Muppet” said. “When you’re a young bloke you think everyone over 50 is ‘old’ then you start getting closer to 60 yourself and it’s sobering.

“I’m 67 now and I’m not completely over the feeling of the years passing. They come and go so quickly.”

Mark was a mere lad of 20 when shrewd New Zealand coach Graham Lowe (now Sir Graham) appointed him captain of a Norths team in the Brisbane Rugby League competition.

In 1980, the Devils stunned the heavily favoured Souths Magpies in the grand final.

It was Lowe who gave Mark the nickname of Muppet.

“It was back in 1979 and after games we would go back to the clubhouse for a disco … glittering ball and all … and the DJ would always close with the theme song from The Muppets. I’d have a few beers on board by then and would be getting right into it so Lowey tagged me ‘Muppet’ and it stuck.”

Mark played 70 games for Norths, 15 for Valleys (in 1992) and 29 for Redcliffe (1983-86) before an eye injury cruelly cut his career short at just 27. He also represented Queensland 17 times and Australia six times.

As soon as he was forced into retirement as a player, Mark stepped into the coaching realm with the Redcliffe Colts. He went on to coach Redcliffe, Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne Storm and Norths as well as Queensland at Origin level. He was also CEO of the Devils for several years.

“I was a teacher for 10 years while I was playing and had 25 years in coaching or football administration then nine years in real estate so I’ve had a varied working life in and out of rugby league,” he said.

“The one thing I miss is the social network you build up when you’re running a club and working with governing bodies like the QRL.

“You go to a lot of meeting and presentations nights and things like that and you meet a wide range of people over the years. Some of them become very good friends. I had to adjust to not seeing so much of them.”

Mark has stayed remarkably fit in retirement and has had no major health challenges.

“I was fortunate to have been a PE teacher so I learned a fair bit about health and diet. I also quite enjoyed the training side of football and kept it up when I retired.

Having the knowledge from my background helped me to improve my diet and keep moving,” he said.

“I play golf at least once a week and generally twice a week. I joined Redcliffe when I got back from Sydney in 1995 and in my jobs I generally worked weekends so I’d have Wednesdays off so had time for golf.

“The funny thing is when I retired, I thought I’d have more time for golf and my game would get better but it hasn’t.”

The enduring partnership in Mark’s life has been with wife Sharyn. They have known each other for more than 50 years.

“Sharyn’s father was a school principal, so they moved around a bit. He was posted to Millmeran where I was at school so Sharyn started going to the school there. We were 12 when we met.

“Now we’ve got three daughters and eight grandkids. They all live on the northside of Brisbane, so not far from Redcliffe and we get together often.

“I don’t mind a bit of handyman work so I go to my daughters’ houses to do some mowing, landscaping or painting. It keeps me active.”

Mark says he is not an “avid” watcher of today’s game. “I don’t watch every game every week,” he said. “I do enjoy going down to the Dolphins and catching up with guys like Bob Jones and Steve Bleakley who are still involved. I get invited to jersey presentations and things like that and really enjoy it.”

His main bugbear with today’s game is the six-again rule where teams get a new set of six tackles when their opponents infringe in the play-the-ball or are caught offside.

“The six-again concept is fine. It’s the application of the rule I have a problem with,” he said.

“Basically it’s penalising the defenders out of the game. The attacking players have enough advantages as it is. They can run, pass, dummy or kick and the defender has to make his decisions second all the time.

“If a tackled player gets onto his stomach and gets up quickly for a quick play-the-ball, I’m fine with that, he’s earned it. But if the defender makes a good legal tackle and gets the attacker onto his back, he’s earned the right to slow the play-the-ball down.

“There’s no reward for the defenders now. That’s why we’re getting 80 points a game and we’re seeing more tries from dummy-half or one pass off the ruck than ever before in the history of the game.

“They’re not giving enough credit to the good defensive players. Rugby league is based on attack and defence and they’re taking the defence out of it.”

Barry Dick was a journalist at The Courier Mail and Sunday Mail for 43 years, before retiring in 2015. Most of that time was spent on the sports desk in a variety of roles including sports editor, digital sports editor, Rugby League editor and chief Rugby League writer. While Barry was the first full-time Australian football writer for The Courier Mail in 1973, his true passion was always Rugby League and he covered a myriad of Grand Finals, State of Origins and Test matches. Barry was inducted into the Media Hall of Fame on March 27 2017.