Luty, 27, was one of the brightest talents on the Border almost a decade ago, crossing from St Pats and becoming a strike weapon for the star-studded Albury United outfit in the late 2000s.

Murray coach Elliot Jones is delighted to have his former teammate on board and admitted Luty could have easily gone on to play professionally if the NPL pathway was available when he was coming up through the ranks.

“Ryan is an outstanding talent who has returned to the Border to take up the challenge of playing with and against the best players in Victoria,” Jones said.

“This is further testament to the pathway that Murray United provides and I have no doubt that had this been around five or six years ago, Ryan could have played professionally. 

“He returns as a 27-year-old in the prime of his career and we believe he will add some real fire and class to an already potent attack that includes Zac Walker, Gonzalo Freddi and Lewis Greenwood.”

Luty scored 23 goals for the Greens in 2008 in the middle of a dominant era for Albury United.

He has been playing division one in Canberra in recent seasons after moving to the nation’s capital in 2010 for university and work, but is excited to test himself at NPL level back in his home region. 

Luty feels he has five good years left in him and the time was right to take on the challenge with Murray.

“I went and played for Richmond for a year in 2007 and commuted from Albury, but I wasn’t obviously afforded an opportunity to play for a team like Murray United then,” Luty said.

“There just wasn’t the pathway when I was that age, unfortunately, so it’s good to be able to come back and have that opportunity now.

“I think I’ve got a fair bit to offer and playing with some of the boys that are really talented around me will help a lot as well.

“I've seen the development of Murray United over the past couple of seasons and I’m pretty excited about the prospect of these pathways being opened up, not just for me, but for the juniors in the future.

“Hopefully we can have a bit of success and it can lead onto bigger and better things for juniors around this area,” Luty added.