"We had our worst game of the season against Hastings at the weekend but the weeks before that have been pretty good. The fact none of our players have been selected for the Magpies is good for us," Murtha said.
The 2013 Hawke's Bay under-20s rugby rep played for the Pirate Panthers league team which beat Omahu Huia 22-6 in last year's premier final of Hawke's Bay's spring competition.
In his Unicorns debut against Taranaki earlier this year he scored two tries.
"I'm still working out my best position in league.
"I've got hooker, fullback, winger and the halves next to my name ... everyone thinks I should be playing in the halves so I'll probably give that a go."
Murtha is equally as versatile in the 15-man code.
He ranked halfback as his preferred position but because Magpies wider training group member Jonathan Ruru has been in sublime form in the No9 jersey Murtha has been used as more of a winger and fullback.
"I don't mind where I play as long as I'm on the field. I've still got hopes of playing rep rugby in the future but when the opportunity to play for the Vipers came along I decided to give it a go. I've made the initial squad ... now the goal is to make the playing 17 each week," Murtha said.
Gutsy on defence for a small bloke, Murtha, boasts a clever step and plenty of gas. He has often been described as a miniature version of Kangaroos, Queensland and Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater.
"I'm a big fan of Shaun Johnson, Isaac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck because they are exciting players. But I don't try and mould my game on any of them," he said.
Murtha is one of 11 Bay players in the 30-strong Vipers squad which also caters for players from Taranaki and Manawatu.
The others are centre Vai Kereti, winger-fullback Lima Eteru, scrumhalf-hooker Colin Hokianga, lock-hooker William Schuster, prop Iese Mulitalo, secondrower Richard Gillies, inside back Tione Hubbard, hooker-scrumhalf Karnak Heremia, centre-secondrower David Neho and prop Boy Waaka.
Hawke's Bay-based head coach of the Vipers, Dion Te Ahu, is thrilled with the mix of youth and experience in the team.
Pre-season camps will be held early next month and a pre-season match will be played against the Wellington Orcas on August 16.
"Wellington are known for their big forward pack and quick outside backs so it will be a great test to see what we can expect from our team this year," Te Ahu said.
The Vipers open their national competition campaign with a match against Northland in Auckland on August 29. Te Ahu has made no secret of the fact he wants to improve on last year's third placing and Murtha is confident this goal will be tickedoff.
"There's a lot of talent in the squad ... we saw that playing for the Unicorns against Manawatu and Taranaki," he added.
