NRL 2024: NSW Blues, Rabbitohs star Cameron Murray opens up on dark days as South Sydney unravelled

Cam Murray says he tried to be ‘stoic and tough’ as the Rabbitohs unravelled, but admits he’s seen some dark days in the last year at South Sydney.

Cameron Murray has opened up on a difficult last 12-months, revealing the Rabbitohs dramas have taken a toll on him. Picture: Getty Images

Cam Murray has spoken of his 12-month torment at Souths while revealing he turned to a four-month-old baby girl and a craggy 74-year-old coaching grandfather to help him through the pitfalls.

Murray attempted to be “stoic and tough” as the Rabbitohs unravelled before admitting “the dramas took a toll on me.”

And Murray said he was rescued from his dark days by daughter Avalon and incoming Souths coach Wayne Bennett.

The Rabbitohs skipper has returned to State of Origin after just one game back for Souths from a long-term hip injury.

Murray, 26, looked drawn over the past year as the club he leads experienced a myriad of on and off-field issues, including the sacking of coach Jason Demetriou and walkout of assistant Sam Burgess.

“You try to be a bit stoic and tough throughout the period and be the person that you need your teammates and whole club to be,” he said. “I think looking back…there were probably moments there where it took a little bit of a toll on me.

“There have been a lot of lessons and learnings over the last 12 months and in particular the last four months of footy in club land has been a bit of a roller coaster.

Cameron Murray has opened up on a difficult last 12-months, revealing the Rabbitohs dramas have taken a toll on him. Picture: Getty Images

“I’ve obviously been through some dramas but I have had a few really good leaders to lean on at the club and some people in my own circle that really helped me out.

“I guess as a captain, and as somebody who probably needs to step up in moments like that, I just tried to keep it as simple as possible and reiterate to the boys that challenges are opportunities.

“In every circumstance we found ourselves in we had an opportunity to rise above everything that was happening in the outside world and I related it all back to footy.

“We can control how we prep and how we play, so if we buy into what happens externally too much it’ll get into our heads and affect the way we play. Ultimately, we’re still kids. living out our childhood dream turning up playing footy.

“It’d be foolish to say that we were able to execute that mindset 100 per cent and not let everything affect us because it’s hard when it’s noisy, but we did our best and hopefully over the last couple of weeks, it’s a catalyst to where we’re going.

“Up until this point, I’ve probably given myself every chance to be in the best mind space and also physically the best I can be dealing with the circumstances. I probably haven’t fully reflected on what happened yet.”

Murray says his partner Miranda and daughter Avalon helped him through the dark days.

When the losses mounted, and times became excruciating challenging, Murray turned to fiance Miranda and baby daughter Avalon.

Being in Leura with NSW is only the second time Murray has left his family, the other being rugby league’s epic venture of Las Vegas in March.

Murray has been spotted in the foyer of the Fairmont Resort, where the Blues are staying, facetiming Miranda and Avalon.

“My partner was probably the biggest (help) and then I just had a baby as well, she has been great for me,” Murray said.

“To come home and see her smiling puts everything in perspective. It helped me deal with everything that happened in club land.

“(Avalon) has been amazing, she probably kept my head on my shoulders. As challenging as it is sometimes with a newborn it’s also the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s hard to actually be away from them now.

“She puts a smile on my face every time.”

And Murray also turned to former and incoming coach Bennett for advice.

Murray also turned to incoming Souths coach Wayne Bennett for advice. Picture: NRL Photos

“I had a chat with him briefly, he’s always good to chat with. In dark times he always shares some good advice. I could chat to him and he definitely helped,” Murray said.

“He normally says the same thing, and says what you’re thinking, but after a call with him you always feel better.

“It’s good to hear from him and he reiterated to control what you can control and about controlling the change room, the feel among the boys and how close we are through all these challenging times.

“You can’t help but smile when someone like that is committed to coming back and doing his best to fix what’s going wrong with the club. We all love Wayne and know what he’s capable of.”

Murray admitted his hip issue was “fate”, the injury allowing him to recover physically and mentally.

“The silver lining is that when you’re forced to rest you take it,” he said. “I’m a big believer that your body knows when you need a rest and if you don’t let it rest then it forces you to rest.

“I think that’s kind of why I (sustained) the injury that I went down with and I took it as fate and did my best to deal with circumstances at hand.

“Anytime that you’re forced to have a rest you make the most of it and I went out there on the weekend (against Brisbane) and missed the first 20 minutes, the sting of the game, which is normally the hardest.

“I’m happy that everything’s falling into place now and I’m in a good mind space now. I don’t want to come here and be a passenger. I want to help out as much as I can, not only individually but contribute to the culture and vibe we’re trying to build here.”