[1] He attended The Southport School[2] throughout his upbringing and was a national-level decathlete as well as a Queensland state champion.
[3] He was also awarded a place on Australia’s Commonwealth pathway, a program run by the Australian government designed to subsidise college tuition, before he instead decided to pursue a professional career in Australian rules football.
[4][5] At 18 years of age, Murtagh switched sports and began playing Australian rules football for the Labrador Tigers in the semi-professional QAFL state league and worked his way through the club ranks before making his senior debut for the Labrador in June 2019.
[6] He was also invited to take part in the Gold Coast Suns Academy,[7] which would lead to being drafted by his hometown professional AFL team the Gold Coast Suns as a Queensland Academy zone selection at the 2019 AFL Draft.
[8] Murtagh was placed on the Suns rookie list and played 28 games for their developmental VFL team over his three-year stint with the club, which was highlighted by a preliminary final appearance against crosstown rivals the Southport Sharks.