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Holy behind Rob
19 March 2003 Herald Sun
By MARK STEVENS
BULLDOG Robert Murphy's dad used to be a priest. His mum was a nun.
Happy family: young Western Bulldog Robert Murphy at home in Berwick with mum Monica and dad John.
Picture: George Salpigtidis
All three are sitting around the family kitchen table in Berwick. There's only one way to start the interview: "Please explain?"
John Murphy opens the batting. There's a twinkle in his eye. It was love, simple as that.
"I wanted to be with Monica. She's a lovely lady," he said. "We developed this friendship. We were kind of pretty happy with the friendship, but we thought we could handle it.
"Then it became more difficult because we realised the friendship was moving towards love."
John and Monica first met in 1972. Both had spent almost 10 years serving God.
"I was working with young people, doing retreats, and Monica was doing the same kind of work," John said.
"We were doing a counselling course. Every week we'd travel out there together in the car. We were thrown together in a way; not of our own choosing."
Monica wanted out, anyway. She was preparing to leave the sisterhood - with or without John.
"I couldn't conform that well," she said. "I don't know whether I was a rebel, but I sort of wasn't in tune with the real strict rules."
For John, it was torture. He knew he would lose friends and colleagues if he stepped away. The backlash would be severe.
"It was a very torrid couple of years for me, trying to sort out what to do, where to go and how to handle it all," John said.
He contemplated heading for the Philippines to work and get away from it all. Finally, towards the end of '75, he left for the outback. It was decision time. "Someone mentioned they had a friend up in Alice Springs that was a building contractor," John said. "I thought 'I'll go up there, get away and work up in the desert for two or three months'.
"I was working with about 20 other guys 300kms out of Alice Springs. We were building some kind of US installation.
"I was shovelling sand and cement and doing a lot of thinking."
John made the call. Love won out.
"I came back and I was quite certain I wanted to be with Monica," he said. "I went to my boss. He knew Monica and he wasn't totally surprised.
"He was a little bit disappointed, I suppose. But he actually spent three days typing up the documents involved. He was terrific.
"It was tough. I think I might've lost a few colleagues and friends as a result of it. I kind of expected that. Then I had to tell friends and family. And with the Catholic culture then, that was a little bit daunting, too."
For Monica, breaking the news to her family would prove just as tough. But they were determined to tie the knot, and John and Monica married at St Augustine's in Bourke St.
Plenty of old colleagues were there, including John's former boss, Essendon-based Father Charlie O'Mahoney.
The couple settled in Alice Springs. They had a son, Ben, and a daughter, Bridget. Then came little Robbie - conceived in Alice and born in Ballarat.
He is now a rising AFL star, already being compared with Robbie Flower. Last October, he represented Australia in Ireland - at only 20.
The whole priest/nun thing has been around all Murphy's life. It was always big news when he was growing up in the small-town environment of Warragul.
"I've always tried to tap into it," he said. "I used to inquire and ask questions. I was always really interested in it and proud of them for their story.
"It always sparked interest back in Warragul. Even down at the footy club now, they ask questions.
"I'm quite happy to talk about it. It's great that mum and dad are now putting it all on paper."
You won't find Murphy at church on Sundays, any more. He used to be a regular, but gave up at 16, like so many other teens.
"I'm spiritual in certain ways, but maybe not so much religious any more," Murphy said. "In our house, we always had a fairly well-grounded knowledge of ourselves ... without sounding too ****y about it."
Monica chipped in: "We wanted them (our kids) to be free, not oppressed."
John and Monica work at St Francis Xavier College in Beaconsfield. Every weekend they're at the footy - whether it's real or for practice.
"I like watching Rob's style," Monica said. "I think it's exciting and different. He runs around the outside and he's stylish. And I like it."
__________________
19 March 2003 Herald Sun
By MARK STEVENS
BULLDOG Robert Murphy's dad used to be a priest. His mum was a nun.
Happy family: young Western Bulldog Robert Murphy at home in Berwick with mum Monica and dad John.
Picture: George Salpigtidis
All three are sitting around the family kitchen table in Berwick. There's only one way to start the interview: "Please explain?"
John Murphy opens the batting. There's a twinkle in his eye. It was love, simple as that.
"I wanted to be with Monica. She's a lovely lady," he said. "We developed this friendship. We were kind of pretty happy with the friendship, but we thought we could handle it.
"Then it became more difficult because we realised the friendship was moving towards love."
John and Monica first met in 1972. Both had spent almost 10 years serving God.
"I was working with young people, doing retreats, and Monica was doing the same kind of work," John said.
"We were doing a counselling course. Every week we'd travel out there together in the car. We were thrown together in a way; not of our own choosing."
Monica wanted out, anyway. She was preparing to leave the sisterhood - with or without John.
"I couldn't conform that well," she said. "I don't know whether I was a rebel, but I sort of wasn't in tune with the real strict rules."
For John, it was torture. He knew he would lose friends and colleagues if he stepped away. The backlash would be severe.
"It was a very torrid couple of years for me, trying to sort out what to do, where to go and how to handle it all," John said.
He contemplated heading for the Philippines to work and get away from it all. Finally, towards the end of '75, he left for the outback. It was decision time. "Someone mentioned they had a friend up in Alice Springs that was a building contractor," John said. "I thought 'I'll go up there, get away and work up in the desert for two or three months'.
"I was working with about 20 other guys 300kms out of Alice Springs. We were building some kind of US installation.
"I was shovelling sand and cement and doing a lot of thinking."
John made the call. Love won out.
"I came back and I was quite certain I wanted to be with Monica," he said. "I went to my boss. He knew Monica and he wasn't totally surprised.
"He was a little bit disappointed, I suppose. But he actually spent three days typing up the documents involved. He was terrific.
"It was tough. I think I might've lost a few colleagues and friends as a result of it. I kind of expected that. Then I had to tell friends and family. And with the Catholic culture then, that was a little bit daunting, too."
For Monica, breaking the news to her family would prove just as tough. But they were determined to tie the knot, and John and Monica married at St Augustine's in Bourke St.
Plenty of old colleagues were there, including John's former boss, Essendon-based Father Charlie O'Mahoney.
The couple settled in Alice Springs. They had a son, Ben, and a daughter, Bridget. Then came little Robbie - conceived in Alice and born in Ballarat.
He is now a rising AFL star, already being compared with Robbie Flower. Last October, he represented Australia in Ireland - at only 20.
The whole priest/nun thing has been around all Murphy's life. It was always big news when he was growing up in the small-town environment of Warragul.
"I've always tried to tap into it," he said. "I used to inquire and ask questions. I was always really interested in it and proud of them for their story.
"It always sparked interest back in Warragul. Even down at the footy club now, they ask questions.
"I'm quite happy to talk about it. It's great that mum and dad are now putting it all on paper."
You won't find Murphy at church on Sundays, any more. He used to be a regular, but gave up at 16, like so many other teens.
"I'm spiritual in certain ways, but maybe not so much religious any more," Murphy said. "In our house, we always had a fairly well-grounded knowledge of ourselves ... without sounding too ****y about it."
Monica chipped in: "We wanted them (our kids) to be free, not oppressed."
John and Monica work at St Francis Xavier College in Beaconsfield. Every weekend they're at the footy - whether it's real or for practice.
"I like watching Rob's style," Monica said. "I think it's exciting and different. He runs around the outside and he's stylish. And I like it."
__________________

