His senior career was unlikely to prosper at Wigan as Turley played understudy to Great Britain fullback Kris Radlinski.
After an impressive debut in a friendly game against Australia's South Sydney Rabbitohs in late 2000, Turley was selected as Leigh's starting fullback ahead of Simon Svabic.
However, the fantastic year was marred as defeat by Oldham in the play-off semi-final eventually saw the Widnes Vikings go onto win the Grand Final, and a place in the Super League.
In 2002 and 2003, the relegated Super League sides, Huddersfield Giants and Salford City Reds remained fully professional teams.
When Halifax were relegated to play in the 2004 National League competition, their financial troubles meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and struggled, paving the way for Leigh to go about achieving their dream.