Titans coach Neil Henry opens up about losing mentor Graham Murray on the same day he was sacked from the Townsville Cowboys

GOLD Coast Titans coach Neil Henry has opened up about being sacked by the Cowboys on the same day his mentor Graham Murray died.

Murray and Henry formed the coaching combination which delivered the North Queensland Cowboys the most successful seasons in the club’s history.

Murray, with Henry as his assistant, was at the helm of the Cowboys when they made the finals for the first time in 2004 before going on to lose the 2005 grand final to Wests Tigers.

The success of the Cowboys during those years led to Henry landing an assistant role alongside Mal Meninga with the Queensland Origin team which blossomed into his first head coaching role at Canberra in 2007.

Henry ironically replaced Murray at the Cowboys in 2009 but the two stayed firm friends until Murray’s death last year.

For Henry, July 28 of 2013 was a day he’ll never forget.

He was sacked as Cowboys coach that morning with a year to run on his contract and just hours later found out Murray had died, aged 58, after battling heart problems.

“I was more worried about the news that Muzza had died than anything to do with me coaching,” Henry said.

“I could see the writing (sacking) on the wall. It wasn’t handled that well and it happened.

“I had a meeting in the morning with the CEO and chairman and they told me what was happening.

“Then I had a text message from a mate that said something was up with Muzza. I didn’t find out until later that afternoon that he’d actually passed away.

“Like all things, you worry about your job, but you put things in perspective.

“It’s not life and death. What you’re doing for a job can’t compare to losing someone.

“You don’t mope around about losing a job. You find your feet, get on the horse and get going again. Once you’ve lost someone, they don’t come back.”

Murray gave Henry his first shot at the NRL.

They met in 2002 through Cowboys football manager Peter Parr, who coached alongside Henry in Perth during Super League 1997. “I’d never met Graham Murray before and we had dinner in Canberra with Parry,” Henry said.

“We went out for dinner and started talking footy and I didn’t think much of it.

“At the end of the dinner, he asked if I’d like to come up (to Townsville) and be his assistant on a two-year contract.

“I went home and talked to my wife about it then rang him the next day and said yes.”

It was the chance Henry had been dreaming of.

Henry is part of a rare breed of NRL coaches who haven’t had elite playing careers.

He was a physical education teacher in Canberra and coaching the Raiders’ under-20s team when Murray took a punt on him.

“My leg-up into full-time coaching I owe to Graham Murray. He had some faith in me,” Henry said.

“He was a pretty big influence. We worked hand in hand for those first four years.

“He taught me there was a lot more to coaching than the skill component and doing drills on the field. It’s a lot about player and man management.

“He was a pretty cranky bloke. He was forthright. He had a temper.

“But he was an affable fella with a smile on his face. You could always relate to things that had happened.”

The 2004-05 stretch of success at the Cowboys was the making of the club.

The region was buzzing with excitement as the likes of Matt Bowen and a young Johnathan Thurston set the NRL alight.

Henry was on the ultimate high and despite working hard for his chance he needed Murray to give him the opportunity.

“I’m sure if I hadn’t taken that step to go work for him then I wouldn’t have got the opportunity to work full-time as a head coach,” he said.

“I’m one of the coaches who hasn’t come from a high-profile playing career.

“You need an opportunity to get in and persevere.

“It was a tragedy he was taken so young.

“It was extremely sad.

“I regret I didn’t get to see him at that stage.”

Henry’s now hoping to pilot the Titans to the kind of success the Cowboys enjoyed.

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/