Murray Hurst is a former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

coach. He was Head coach of the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

between 2001 and 2002 and coached

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

in the World Cup of 2000.

Early life

Hurst was born in Surat on a sheep and cattle property in the south west corner of Queensland. He attended Marist Brothers College at Ashgrove in Brisbane. Hurst has previously expressed his connection with the land, noting that he never contemplated another career other than to succeed his father on the family property.

Coaching career

Hurst took over the job from as coach of the

from

Tim Sheens Tim Sheens (born 30 October 1950) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. Head Coach of the Australia national team between 2009 and 2015, he has also been the head coach of National Rugby League (NRL) clubs ...

in 2001. Hurst was later replaced by former

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

coach

Graham Murray Graham Ernest Murray (6 January 1955 – 28 July 2013) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin head coach, Murray c ...

. Hurst finished his 25-year Coaching Career with an overall success rate of 88% from Club League in Queensland, Representative Coaching (Tonga, Aust U19, Qld Residents, Qld Country, Australian Universities) and NRL.

Political career

After serving 4 years as an elected Councillor in Local Government, Hurst was unsuccessful as the LNP candidate for the seat of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

in the 2009 Queensland Election.

References

Living people Australian rugby league coaches Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians North Queensland Cowboys coaches Tonga national rugby league team coaches Year of birth missing (living people) {{australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub