Murray was released by Parramatta on mutual terms a fortnight ago, keen to escape the limelight cast on him while the high-profile cases against Ayoub, former first-grader John Elias and Tandy persist.
Newcastle Rugby League general manager John Fahey confirmed that the 21-year-old’s contract had been approved yesterday and he would cost 75 points under the competition’s player points system.
He will debut for Wests tomorrow against Macquarie in open grade at Harker Oval. A prodigious talent, Murray was named in the National Youth Cup team of the year in 2010 while at the Sydney Roosters.
He was one of several people identified to have placed bets on a Cowboys penalty goal being the first scoring play in the game against Canterbury last season, but has been cleared by police of any wrongdoing.
On May 19 the Eels released Murray so he could move back to his parents’ home in Scone.
Murray had been playing in the Eels feeder teams in the NSW Cup and Bundaberg Red Cup.
Wests secretary Neil Scarr said his club believed there was no issue in signing Murray for the rest of the season.
‘‘This is a young halfback who came to us wanting a game of football,’’ Scarr said.
‘‘We’re more than happy to give him the opportunity.
‘‘It’s got nothing to do with Tandy, it’s got nothing to do with anything else. He’s local from Scone and he came down and spoke to us.’’
Wests tried in April to register Tandy, who had been sacked by the Bulldogs after being charged with giving false or misleading evidence to the NSW Crime Commission.
Tandy has since been additionally charged with attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception in relation to last year’s round-24 match between the Bulldogs and Cowboys in Townsville.
That signing was blocked by the CRL, in consultation with NRL chief executive David Gallop, but there will be no such problem in their acquisition of Murray.
Tandy has continued to train with the Rosellas, who are leading the competition after seven rounds.
First-choice Newcastle representative halfback Adrian Davis is sidelined for at least the next fortnight with a hamstring tear, but Wests lost little last Sunday by promoting Tim Penny from reserve grade to the No.7 role.
Scarr said Murray, who started training with the club this week, would need to prove through his performances that he should be promoted to first grade.
‘‘We would expect him to certainly push for a first-grade spot over the next three or four games given the type of player he is,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Northern Blues are urging all former players to attend tonight’s match against Cessnock at Tomaree Sporting Complex to honour lower-grader Jake Coles, who died last week.
The hill at the ground will be named in Coles’s memory, and all past and present players will be invited onto the field for a minute’s silence.
Also tonight Central Newcastle host South Newcastle at St John Oval.
Tomorrow, Wyong play Maitland at Morry Breen Oval and Lakes United host Kurri Kurri at Cahill Oval.
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