Marc Murphy

For the New York chef, see Marc Murphy (chef).
Marc Murphy

Marc Murphy
Personal information
Full nameMarc Murphy
Date of birth19 July 1987
Place of birthMelbourne
Original teamOakleigh Chargers
Draft1st overall, 2005
Height/Weight180 cm / 80 kg
Position(s)Midfield
Club information
Current clubCarlton
Number3
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2006–Carlton186 (143)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of Round 1, 2015 season.
Career highlights

Marc Murphy (born 19 July 1987) is an Australian rules footballer, recruited at number one in the 2005 AFL Draft. He is the current captain of the Carlton Football Club.

Early life and junior career

Murphy attended Whitefriars College in Donvale. He played for Beverley Hills Junior Football Club and Doncaster Football Club, before playing TAC Cup football with the Oakleigh Chargers. He represented the victorious Vic Metro team at the 2005 AFL Under-18 Championships, winning the Larke Medal as the best player of the tournament.

As the son of John Murphy, a Hall-of-Famer and legend of the Fitzroy Football Club, Marc was eligible to be taken by the Brisbane Lions under the father-son rule. However he exercised his option to decline the offer and nominate for the 2005 AFL National draft. Carlton subsequently took him in the draft with the first overall draft pick, a priority pick.

AFL career

2006

Murphy made his AFL debut in Round 1, 2006. His quality performance on debut earned him a nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star Award.

Murphy impressed pundits in his first season, and he was an early favourite for the NAB AFL Rising Star Award. In July, Murphy sustained a season-ending shoulder injury; this effectively ended any chance he had of winning the Rising Star Award, however he was still voted by his peers the winner of the AFLPA Best First Year Player award. He led the Carlton Football Club in assists for the season, despite playing only twelve full games.

2007

Murphy was elevated to the eight-man leadership group for the 2007 season. In early 2007 Murphy replicated his good form of 2006, amassing 30 disposals against eventual premiers Geelong in Round 2. However, an injury to prime midfielder Nick Stevens after Round 3 saw Murphy attract the opposition's best taggers in most games. While his form remained solid, shaking the experienced taggers proved too big a challenge for the second year player and he finished outside the top 10 in the club's best and fairest.

2008

Murphy added considerable bulk to his frame during the 2007/08 offseason, highlighted in many preseason news articles. He was no longer in the leadership group, which was now reduced five players. Murphy benefitted significantly from the return of Nick Stevens and the recruitment of Chris Judd, the pair of whom now attracted the strongest taggers, and this gave him more freedom to run. A solid 32 touches against Brisbane in Round 8, then having a game breaking 33 touches against Port Adelaide in Round 11 with the Blues getting home by 12 points after trailing by as much as 38 points in the 3rd quarter. He played his 50th game in round 15 against the Saints. Murphy capped off a great 2008 season by coming second to Chris Judd in the John Nicholls Medal for the Carlton Best and Fairest, recording 11 votes in the Brownlow Medal.

Marc Murphy was selected for Australia in the International Rules series against Ireland. He was one of Australia's best in the first test, kicking 4 overs to assist a late-game comeback by Australia which fell one point short. He scored a goal in the second test by unintentionally tapping the ball into the net from crowded contest.

2009

Murphy continued to improve in the 2009 season, establishing himself as one of the elite midfielders in the AFL, and averaging 25.6 disposals per game. He became Carlton's most potent goal-scoring midfielder, setting himself a personal target of averaging a goal a game, and he achieved this with a total of 31 goals from his 23 matches. After becoming a damaging midfielder, he was selected in the All-Australian Squad of 40, but was not selected in the team, and polled 15 Brownlow Medal votes to finish equal 9th. He again finished second in the Best and Fairest award (John Nicholls Medal) behind his captain Chris Judd.

2010

Murphy played his 100th game in Round 21, 2010; in doing so, he, father John (275 games for Fitzroy, South Melbourne and North Melbourne), and grandfather Leo Murphy (132 games for Hawthorn) became the only father-son-grandson combination in league history to each play 100 games.[1]

Murphy missed much of the 2010 pre-season due to hip surgery, and struggled through the first half of the year. However, his second half of the season was exemplary, polling best and fairest votes in every game after Round 14 and ultimately finishing third for the award.[2]

2011

Murphy became one of the league's elite midfielders in 2011. He was named in the All-Australian team for the first time in his career, on the half-forward flank,[3] and won his first John Nicholls Medal for best and fairest player at Carlton. He was also named as the AFL Coaches' Association Champion Player of the Year,[4] and The Age' Player of the Year.[5]

2012

Murphy started the year as strong as he finished 2011, becoming the favourite for the Brownlow Medal before a heavy collision with Patrick Dangerfield in round 8 where he sustained a shoulder injury. He returned in round 16, and from round 17 to 21 was named as the acting captain in the absence of Chris Judd.

2013

On March 13th 2013 Murphy was announced as captain, replacing Chris Judd.

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of 28 April 2011[6]
Season Team No. Games Disposals Kicks Handballs Marks Tackles Goals Behinds
2011 Carlton 3 21 28.7 16.1 12.5 4.6 4.6 0.9 0.4
2010 Carlton 3 22 25.4 12.6 12.8 4.1 4.6 0.9 0.5
2009 Carlton 3 23 25.6 12.4 13.1 4.6 3.9 1.4 0.7
2008 Carlton 3 22 24.6 15.2 9.4 6.2 2.6 0.6 0.5
2007 Carlton 3 22 17.9 12.0 5.9 4.1 2.9 0.4 0.8
2006 Carlton 3 13 18.0 11.4 6.6 5.6 2.1 0.6 0.3
Career Averages 23.0 13.0 10.0 4.8 3.3 0.8 0.6

External links

References

  1. ↑ Tony De Bolfo 100 Club is Murphy's lore, Retrieved 18 August 2010
  2. ↑ Carlton Football Club Judd in John Nicholls Medal threepeat, Retrieved 28 September 2010
  3. ↑ Holmesby, Luke (19 Sep 2011). "Pies dominate AA team". Australian Football League. Retrieved 19 Sep 2011.
  4. ↑ de Kretzer, Chris; Timms, Darryl (27 Sep 2011). "Carlton midfielder Marc Murphy wins coaches' award for player of the year". Herald Sun. Retrieved 27 Sep 2011.
  5. ↑ "Age Footballer of the Year – Round 24 votes". The Age. Australia. 5 Sep 2011. Retrieved 5 Sep 2011.
  6. ↑ "Marc Murphy of the Carlton Blues Career AFL Stat" accessed 28 April 2011
Awards
Preceded by
Jesse Smith		 Larke Medal
2005 		Succeeded by
Tom Hawkins
Preceded by
Brett Deledio		 AFLPA Best First Year Player Award
2006 		Succeeded by
Joel Selwood