Murray made his debut for Newtown in 1908 which was the inaugural year that the NSWRL competition began.

In 1910, Murray was a member of the Newtown side which won their first-ever premiership drawing with South Sydney 4–4 in the grand final.

Newtown were declared premiers after the match had concluded because they had finished the regular season in first place.

In 1915, Murray joined North Sydney and then enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and went to the Great War.

[4] Joe Murray died at Gloucester House (RPA Hospital), Camperdown, New South Wales, on 28 April 1944.