Daniel Murray (rugby league)

Daniel Murray

Personal information
Full name	Daniel John Murray
Nickname	Muzza, Muzz
Born	12 December 1987 (1987-12-12) (age 23) Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Second-row, Lock, Wing
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2007–2008	Hinton Paterson Hornets	33	10	0/2	0	40
As of 09:27, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
Source: NRL Stats

Daniel "Muzza" Murray (born 12 December 1987 in Maitland, NSW) is a former Rugby League player for the Hinton Hornets in the Newcastle and Hunter Rugby League competition.

Childhood

Murray grew up in East Maitland and first played Rugby League for the East Maitland griffins school boys. He played U/7's, U/8's and U/9's before quitting mid year. He attended Grosmann High School from year 7-11 representing the school in year 9 and 10 Rugby League teams which did not win a game in those two years.

After School

He left High School mid year 11 in search to start an apprenticeship in building. While working part time at a supermarket he found himself in a comfort zone of casual work (including supermarket, delicatessen and pizza shop) and hard partying and did not pursue any interest in an apprenticeship. Mid 2005 his well respected Grandfather Frank Murray funded a short course in boilermaking at a local training facility where Daniel found himself very interested in the trade and finished late in the year. He done work experience at Perfab Engineering and after the two weeks was offered an apprenticeship in Boilermaking.

Junior Rugby League

Whilst still attending High school, Murray signed up in U/17's for Beresfield Bears Junior Rugby League team. He originally played lock forward and back row when one game he found himself filling in on the wing when the team was very short of backs. Murray found immediate success mainly in defense on the wing and continued playing in that position for the remainder of the year. Through heavy training he peaked at 96 kg that year and was a handful for smaller opposition backs. Beresfield made the semi finals but were eliminated first game.

In 2005 Murray played with the Maitland Pumpkin Pickers U/18 team and had a very disappointing season. Shedding a lot of body tone off season (weighing 75 kg) he played with no confidence and could not cement down a spot in the side and losing interest in the game.

Senior Rugby League

Having not played in 2006, Murray signed for Hinton/Paterson Hornets and enjoyed mixed success in his first year of senior footy. Being dubbed a back he played mostly on the wing and off the bench as a replacement back but with only a handful of games remaining in the year he came off the bench as a replacement forward and had a standout game. This game changed his presumed position and remained in the pack for the rest of the season. The Hornets finished 2nd on the ladder with good momentum goin into the semi finals but lost both semis which eventually eliminated them from the years competition. His good end of season form earned him the Most improved Player Award for 2007.

The following year saw Murray enjoy great success where he started all but 5 games in the season, playing Lock, 2nd Row, and one game at wing. He scored 10 tries in the season including doubles against Gateshead and Morriset and played in that years Grand Final against Gloucester. Murray won two players player awards and a couple best forward awards throughout the year and again at the end of the year won Most Improved award for the second year running. Finishing 4th on the ladder that year they won the first semi against Glendale (which Murray scored a try), then Abermain and a convincing win in the Major Qualifying final against Woodberry saw them enter their first grand final since the early 1990s. It was a day to forget for the Hornets with the final score 64-12 to Gloucester.

2008/2009 off Season

On 11 January 2009, Murray and a couple of mates were enjoying a swim in the Hunter River at Hinton after a two day bender at a mates barbecue. Being very intoxicated, Murray and his two mates Mitch Brown and Adam Sherwen decided to have fun by jumping off the roadside bridge into the river below to cool off, but things went horribly wrong when the three men thought it would be fun to climb to the top of the bridge and jump off. Many have done this approx. 35 metre jump into the water below before and had no issues but after doing it once, Murray climbed up to do it again. When he jumped off he pushed off too hard and eventually landed horizontally on his back. Brown and Sherwen swam to Murray and helped him to the pontoon where luckily two nurses were enjoying a picnic and aided him until the ambulance and eventually the Westpac rescue helicopter arrived. Later tests at hospital showed that he had broken his C1 vertibre in his neck as well as fractured ribs and a punctured lung. Surgery was eventually performed fusing the C1 to the C2 and a halo brace attached.

Persondata
Name	Murray, Daniel Muzza
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 December 1987
Place of birth	Maitland, New South Wales
Date of death
Place of death