AT a time of life when most people are contemplating a quiet retirement, Alex Murphy still has all the enthusiasm of a 21-year-old as he prepares to step back into the cauldron of day-to-day rugby league.

Murphy's love affair was Leigh Centurions was surprisingly re-kindled late when he was handed the job of trying to steer the club into Super League as the club's Director of Football.

Never one to shy away from a fight, Murphy bounced back into Hilton Park for a fifth time, relishing the chance to help Leigh achieve their dream.

Murphy broke a family holiday in the South of France to jet in and watch the Centurions demolish third-placed Rochdale 68-16 last Sunday just a couple of days after the club had parted company with head coach Paul Terzis.

Clearly moved by the reception he received, Murphy said: "Leigh are the only club I would have come back into the game for. They have always had a special place in my heart."

Even though he's now 64 Murphy says age is no barrier. "All I can say is that I'm younger than Sir Bobby Robson, and he's not done such a bad job as manager at Newcastle. But seriously I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't think I had something to offer."

Murphy sees his role as a supervisory one - the captain with the hand on the tiller.

Much of the coaching, planning and preparation will be left in the hands of new joint coaches Tommy Martyn and Norman Turley. "I'm happy to leave most things to Tommy and Norman, they are more than capable."

Murphy was sunning himself on the French Riviera when the first call came from Leigh. "I was gob-smacked," he says. "But when they said they were prepared to fly out to France to talk to me, I was impressed by their commitment."

Nice airport

A delegation of Leigh directors had initial talks with Murphy at Nice airport but at first he turned them down. "But they drove 40 miles up the coast to see me later and I thought if they want me that badly, I'll go," he said.

"The future at Leigh is very bright. The team is on the brink of Super League, they've got bags of young talent, brilliant supporters and a new stadium in the offing. My aim is to pull all those things together and give the town a rugby club they can be proud of."

With Leigh now starting their preparations for a play-off showdown with arch-rivals Salford at the Willows on Sunday week, Murphy believes that his team is capable of pulling off a shock win and reach the Grand Final at the first time of asking.

"I think we'll give Salford something to think about this time. They won't really know what to expect. Perhaps that's been the problem in the past, we've been too predictable. If the players want this success I believe they have the talent to go out there and grab it. It's up to them."

Executive director Derek Beaumont explained why the club had decided to ditch Terzis on the eve of the play-offs.

"It was not a case of us losing faith in Paul," he says. "We all have a great deal of admiration for Paul and he's been a super ambassador for the club in his time here. He has achieved everything, except a Grand Final win. Perhaps that wasn't his fault with financial constraints and an uneven playing field.

"But we started to question whether he was fully committed to to Leigh when it became apparent he was looking for a new club for next season."

Terzis never hid the fact he was looking for a new position and in recent weeks has been interviewed for the assistant coaching role at St Helens. He has also applied for a lower grade job with Penrith Panthers back in Australia and is linked with a coaching position at Wakefield.