At odds with Murphy's omnipresence, I was not even aware of this until today. Another spindly footballer gets to 300. I really like this game milestone mainly because there are no s**t footballers who have made it.
So what about Bob's career? I remember vaguely the first time I saw him play. Not who or where or even when, just the disbelief from my mum and I that someone with that physique would be let anywhere near an AFL match. He looked like a 14 year old child. I think he was a first rounder and was considered at the time to be a very high-class prospect with great skill, a good mark for his size and there were possibly some Robbie Flower comparisons.
Really he was a good player very early on but for quite a while I felt like he plateaued as a footballer mainly because he was required to play all over the ground, including a couple of seasons as almost a CHF for Eade's short people. I reckon this period was where I started to like him as a footballer because he was undersized, but performed a very effective lead up role. And quite apart from his skinny outside reputation he was a very courageous aerialist with very strong hands and a gut runner. Those were some weird teams the dogs put out and Murphy was an unlikely lynch pin.
He is one of the more visually effortless footballers of his era, pace with a long stride like some great indigenous players. Decisions and kicking are brilliant. Good left side. Murphy can be simply beautiful to watch.
He is seemingly well liked by most people who are close to him and is of course credited, along with Beveridge, with the repair and resurgence of the Bulldogs. His widely appreciated writing for the Age started the ball rolling on a cult image, and he has delivered some very poignant articles, mixed in with quite a bit of lazy, whimsical shite, in my opinion.
Bob is very polished in front of the camera and the transformation from awkward spotty weed to powerhouse AFL media figure is now complete. His public persona on AFL360 has been huge in the changing image of the Bulldogs. How much does something like that matter? I don't know, someone will have to tell me. What does matter in footy though is people who become part of the fabric of their club. Bob Murphy is not as good as EJ Whitten, Charlie Sutton, Doug Hawkins, Chris Grant or Brad Johnson. But he is probably as big a part of the Dogs as any of them now.
Give me your honest thoughts and memories of Bob Murphy, 300 gamer.
So what about Bob's career? I remember vaguely the first time I saw him play. Not who or where or even when, just the disbelief from my mum and I that someone with that physique would be let anywhere near an AFL match. He looked like a 14 year old child. I think he was a first rounder and was considered at the time to be a very high-class prospect with great skill, a good mark for his size and there were possibly some Robbie Flower comparisons.
Really he was a good player very early on but for quite a while I felt like he plateaued as a footballer mainly because he was required to play all over the ground, including a couple of seasons as almost a CHF for Eade's short people. I reckon this period was where I started to like him as a footballer because he was undersized, but performed a very effective lead up role. And quite apart from his skinny outside reputation he was a very courageous aerialist with very strong hands and a gut runner. Those were some weird teams the dogs put out and Murphy was an unlikely lynch pin.
He is one of the more visually effortless footballers of his era, pace with a long stride like some great indigenous players. Decisions and kicking are brilliant. Good left side. Murphy can be simply beautiful to watch.
He is seemingly well liked by most people who are close to him and is of course credited, along with Beveridge, with the repair and resurgence of the Bulldogs. His widely appreciated writing for the Age started the ball rolling on a cult image, and he has delivered some very poignant articles, mixed in with quite a bit of lazy, whimsical shite, in my opinion.
Bob is very polished in front of the camera and the transformation from awkward spotty weed to powerhouse AFL media figure is now complete. His public persona on AFL360 has been huge in the changing image of the Bulldogs. How much does something like that matter? I don't know, someone will have to tell me. What does matter in footy though is people who become part of the fabric of their club. Bob Murphy is not as good as EJ Whitten, Charlie Sutton, Doug Hawkins, Chris Grant or Brad Johnson. But he is probably as big a part of the Dogs as any of them now.
Give me your honest thoughts and memories of Bob Murphy, 300 gamer.
