Ex-Hull KR, Halifax Panthers and Keighley Cougars favourite Scott Murrell 'living dream' at Castleford Tigers

The 37-year-old called time on his playing career last year and stayed on at Keighley Cougars as an assistant coach, a role he initially combined with a job working for a club sponsor, A1 Stairlifts.

But the former Hull KR and Halifax Panthers favourite is now back in Super League after receiving an offer he could not refuse from Tigers boss Lee Radford.

Murrell will take charge of Castleford's reserves in 2023 while assisting Radford with first-team matters.

"I'm living the dream," he told The Yorkshire Post.

"I wanted to get into that full-time coaching environment but those opportunities aren't easy to come by.

"This opportunity has come up and I'm going to grab it with both hands."

Murrell always planned to go into coaching once he finished playing, setting the wheels in motion during his time with Halifax where he assisted Richard Marshall and Simon Grix.

After gaining further experience under Rhys Lovegrove at Keighley, Murrell is ready to accelerate his development with a goal of one day becoming a head coach himself.

"This is the next step for me on the coaching ladder," he said. "You've got to have end goals but I'm a long way off. I'm still doing my apprenticeship.

"I just want to learn off as many people as I can. Lasty (Andy Last) has been in the England set-up with Shaun Wane and Radders has been with Samoa. If I can pick ideas up off them both, that can only help my coaching."

Murrell left Keighley as a promotion hero, helping the club to the League 1 title with a perfect record.

"I loved it," he added. "We finished on a positive by getting promoted.

"The reason I left Halifax was that Rhys wanted to get that club promoted and he saw me as someone who could help him do that.

"It was a bit of a wrench leaving Keighley because we'd put in a lot of effort, but it was a no-brainer to move to a full-time environment learning off Radders and Lasty who are international coaches.

"These opportunities wouldn't have come around again if I'd turned it down."

Murrell's forward planning allowed him to stay in rugby and avoid a period of uncertainty at the end of his playing career.

He was not completely at ease, though, until taking the phone call from Radford.

"I was worrying, to be honest, because I was going to be working and coaching," said Murrell.

"It's part and parcel of life. When you're going out into that big wide world it's a little bit different to what you're used to.

"Now I'm here I want to add some value; I don't just want to be a passenger learning off them."

When Castleford announced Murrell's appointment, the Leeds Rhinos academy product teased a potential comeback for the reserves in 2023.

However, he is not in a rush to put his boots back on.

"I get that little itch but I know the next day I wouldn't be able to walk," said Murrell.

"If the reserves run how we want it to run, I won't be playing. But if we're short on numbers and need me to play, I will do."