View Full Version : Robert Murphy... Continually being wasted
How long before our coaching staff realise just what a genius of a player Robert Murphy is and that he is without a shadow of a doubt being under utilised and wasted!! It was no more evident than on Sat night when he was thrown onto Lance Whitnall for reasons i cannot fathom no matter how many beers i consumed. Rawlings only had two marks taken on him then Murphy was put on him, dragged to full forward and effectively out of the game, whilst Lance was too big and strong and killed him. Pagan couldn't believe his luck, we were handing him our backline on a platter. Then puts Rawling back on Lance and Rawlings shut Lance down for the rest of the game, if you noticed the coverage you would of seen Whitnall (gone cold, no disposals in 28 min)
Why the ******** put Murph on him??? If we persisted with Harris all night on Fev and Fev killed Harris why not persist with Rawlings (if Rawlings stayed on Lance all quarter i believe Lance would not have hurt us as much as he did)
When are we gonna make teams afraid of our damaging players and use them where they are most effective. How the hell can Murph do anything construtive or creative form full back and hurt the opposition. Its more than due time he is given more of a free role to push up the ground and start to hurt teams with his brains and skill, let them worry about him. But no, we will put him full back and half back week in week in week out effectively making his game breaking skills redundant. I believe the footy world has only seen a fingernail of what Murph can do and until the brainiacs up there realise he is a waste in the backline, we will never see his full potential. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for this guy to explode and it seems that its our own club that is his biggest opponent!
Totally agree. Reminded me of a game at Telstra Dome last year when our dearly departed mastermind decided to play him at full forward because we were struggling to score whenever the ball went forward. Only problem with this plan was that the only reason the ball was getting forward was because Spud Murphy was dominating off a half back flank and was continually running and pumping the ball deep into the goalsquare.
Turtleman3
8 Mar 2005, 05:26
I agree. Murph needs to be in the midfield. Give him a chance there.
putting johnson at FF and murphy at CHB smacked of clueless desperation, reminicent of wallace and rhode during the bad years.
regardless of whether either move worked or not, what is the point? we werent going to win, and it wasa practice match so the loosing scoreline was irrelevent.
eade panicked on the night, just like the team did, hopefully he will learn too.
Gilbo_Fan
8 Mar 2005, 11:02
I am going to celebrate differences of opinion and tell you I think this stuff about Murphy being wasted is rubbish. He is a good player but not a great one. He looks to have the raw tools to develop into a great player but hasn't done that yet. A lot of supporters seem to have this expectation of him as a great player.
He has shown he is best suited to a half back flank, rebounding running player. He has had opportunities as a midfileder and has not shown he can find enough of the ball with any consistency. Its one thing to play in the backline and its another to play midfield.
Gone are the days where we have free wheeling midfielders, what we need are guys who can play on the best, curb their influence and win some of their own ball also.
I think Murphy is being held back by the expectations of the supporters. At the moment we expect him to be something he is not and blame the coach for where he is played. Murphy is in control of how well he plays not the coach.
Fossie 32
8 Mar 2005, 11:40
Maybe he is one of the secret weapons we are gonna unleash when the season starts lol. Obviously bad having him on Whitnall but didn't stay there long did he? I reckon he'd be best ona wing but still good value from HBF
Cyberdoggie
9 Mar 2005, 10:07
I am going to celebrate differences of opinion and tell you I think this stuff about Murphy being wasted is rubbish. He is a good player but not a great one. He looks to have the raw tools to develop into a great player but hasn't done that yet. A lot of supporters seem to have this expectation of him as a great player.
He has shown he is best suited to a half back flank, rebounding running player. He has had opportunities as a midfileder and has not shown he can find enough of the ball with any consistency. Its one thing to play in the backline and its another to play midfield.
Gone are the days where we have free wheeling midfielders, what we need are guys who can play on the best, curb their influence and win some of their own ball also.
I think Murphy is being held back by the expectations of the supporters. At the moment we expect him to be something he is not and blame the coach for where he is played. Murphy is in control of how well he plays not the coach.
i agree, i think murphy is a natural backman with attacking flair.
he likes to read the play that way rather than have is back to goals.
besides he has had op during last season and doesn't seem to be over it.
I am going to celebrate differences of opinion and tell you I think this stuff about Murphy being wasted is rubbish. He is a good player but not a great one. He looks to have the raw tools to develop into a great player but hasn't done that yet. A lot of supporters seem to have this expectation of him as a great player.
He has shown he is best suited to a half back flank, rebounding running player. He has had opportunities as a midfileder and has not shown he can find enough of the ball with any consistency. Its one thing to play in the backline and its another to play midfield.
Gone are the days where we have free wheeling midfielders, what we need are guys who can play on the best, curb their influence and win some of their own ball also.
I think Murphy is being held back by the expectations of the supporters. At the moment we expect him to be something he is not and blame the coach for where he is played. Murphy is in control of how well he plays not the coach.
Most naturally gifted footballer we have, in terms of natural football skill and use of brain, which i see you didn't use too much of in writing ur response. Anyone who actually watches football and claims to know a bit about it will agree he is a genius.
Walsh Bay
9 Mar 2005, 16:39
All of the above might be true but his ability to run all day as a midfielder is hampered by his recovery from o.p.
It's a long season; let's see where he's playing in July.
Kennel Master
9 Mar 2005, 16:57
I don't think Murphy is wasted at halfback. It is where he plays his best footy. He has been tried midfield with less success.
Why the consistent push by posters to get Bob in the midfield?
Look at Guy McKenna- played his entire career at halback and was fantastic at it. We need Bob doing the same sort of job. Cutting out opposition half forwards and turning defence into attack with strong runs and pinpoint passes.
All of the above might be true but his ability to run all day as a midfielder is hampered by his recovery from o.p.
It's a long season; let's see where he's playing in July.
Yeah good point, didn't take that into consideration for last week's game. Lets hope that when he regains his match fitness we can utilise him where he can do the most damage and that aint playing on a half back flank.
Cyberdoggie
10 Mar 2005, 18:27
i think he's a backman but i don't agree on putting him on a main defender like whitnall, i think that's just like two wrongs don't make a right or one of those other cliche's i can't think of. He is better in defence and should play a creative role there, not nullified on a stopping role.
O.P. is going to dictate a lot of that though.
If he can't run well he might end up at fb!!!!
murfs_chick
11 Mar 2005, 07:54
I agree that bobby is at times wasted in the backline. But when playing off the half back line he can be quite damaging. He may be more suited to the midfield, but as he had such an interupted pre-season, he just can't play there at the moment. As the year progresses and he gains some more match fitness we may just see him given spurts in the midfield. But at this point in time cooney, gia, crossy, etc, are doing really well and at times he is not needed in the midfield. If by round 12 he is still not being given spurts in the midfield when we are being beaten there, then we can all rant and rave about it.
I am going to celebrate differences of opinion and tell you I think this stuff about Murphy being wasted is rubbish. He is a good player but not a great one. He looks to have the raw tools to develop into a great player but hasn't done that yet. A lot of supporters seem to have this expectation of him as a great player.
He has shown he is best suited to a half back flank, rebounding running player. He has had opportunities as a midfileder and has not shown he can find enough of the ball with any consistency. Its one thing to play in the backline and its another to play midfield.
Gone are the days where we have free wheeling midfielders, what we need are guys who can play on the best, curb their influence and win some of their own ball also.
I think Murphy is being held back by the expectations of the supporters. At the moment we expect him to be something he is not and blame the coach for where he is played. Murphy is in control of how well he plays not the coach.
Too many supporters want players in positions where they probably will end up playing their football. Murphy probably will be a midfielder, however he is yet to dominate a game accross the backline and is coming back from a bout of OP. Playing in the backline gives players their best education as they see first hand what a lack of accountability upfield does to the backline, whilst at the same time allowing creativemness and run when rebounding from the backline.
Another year on the half back line with short stints in the middle should allow Murphy to develop into the player some people already think he is
Knackers
11 Mar 2005, 09:52
It's time for Murphy to claim a few BOGs this year. He has the class, skill and temperament to be our most creative and damaging player. He needs to improve his consistency and play four quarters of good football on a more regular basis.
He is primed to become our best and fairest in 2005, whether he plays HBF or midfield should make little difference to the quality of his output, he is more than capable of running through the lines and drilling passes down forwards throats regardless of starting in the centre or on the back flank.
I agree that he shouldn't be played deep in defense or used as a negating key backman.