In an exclusive interview with LIONS TV, Murray revealed that he was very much part of the ‘wrong crowd’ during his adolescence and that many of his friends ended up in prison.
“I lived in Collingwood and I knocked around with a lot of wild kids and we kept ourselves pretty busy doing things that we shouldn’t have been doing,” Murray said.
“Some of my mates did get into really bad trouble, and I could have been with them at the time.
“I was lucky enough to go to Fitzroy when I was 13 to train with the thirds because my father had been friends with the great coach Len Smith. They had played football together.
“So I trained there for a couple of years and gradually progressed. Then, when I was 15, I was able to play in the thirds and seconds.
Murray, who went on to play a combined Club record of 333 VFL senior matches and claim a Club record nine Best ad Fairest awards, believes that football helped keep him out of trouble.
“Fitzroy gave me the opportunity to do something with my life. Otherwise you don’t know what could have happened,” he said.
“As I got more experienced playing VFL football, we’d go out to Pentridge to do some Sportsman’s Nights, and there were some of my mates behind the bars.
“It was heartening to speak with them, but at the same time I was very lucky that I got the opportunity to keep out of trouble.”
