Marc Murphy

[PP34]

Murph hasn't been terrible, averaging close to 24 disposals a game, but that's down from his average of 26 last year (recovering from shoulder injury while playing), and 29 in his best year (2011). He's also averaging 1.2 goals per game, which is up from his past two seasons (.7 last year and .9 in 2011). But he hasn't been super in any particular area, his influence on the game has been stopped several times, he hasn't been damaging with goal assists like last season, his effective disposals are down from 2011 and his contested possession work has been down on his best year which was 2011 (going by totals). Contested possessions are perhaps a bit down with the inclusion of some harder bodies (Mclean, Cachia and Bell) and a greater team focus on them.

Look he hasn't been bad, but in watching him and looking at the stats, he hasn't been the Marc Murphy we're used to watching that wins the ball, tears teams apart by foot and gets his teammates involved.

What's the reason? Injury? He had pre-season surgery didn't he? And apparently he's been having a few niggles lately?

 

[Shatterpoint]

Agree something is definitely not right with him, had a shocker today as well, very concerning.

 

[smashbox gill]

I think he's still getting used to the captaincy and the extra attention. Think this year he will be up and down but next year i think he'll return

 

[T2B_]

I'll eat my pants if he's not at least a little bit injured. Let's not forget what he's like at his best.

 

[PP34]

Hopefully he's gearing up for a big four weeks.

 

[Shatterpoint]

Yeah I am hoping that he is just cruising along, before the next tough 4 weeks coming up.

 

[Big Sim]

Did not have a shocker by any stretch. You are marking him too hard.

 

[PP34]

Did not have a shocker by any stretch. You are marking him too hard.

He's not impacting games like we've seen in the past.

 

[BlueBelle]

He's not impacting games like we've seen in the past.

He's being heavily tagged every week.

Definitely carrying one or two niggles though.

 

[Poseidon]

Must be carrying something. Showed a couple glimpses of his superb lateral movement today but was pretty ineffectual. I'd say a combination of injury, weight of captaincy and copping most of the attention now is taking it's toll on him. He'll get better with time.

 

[PP34]

He's being heavily tagged every week.

Definitely carrying one or two niggles though.

Definitely. Not the first or last time he will be heavily tagged though. If we're to go anywhere as a side, Murphy has to be leading the way.

We looked very good in 2011 when he was doing so.

 

[HBF]

Geez, he had 20 touches and laid 5 tackles today, all the while carrying Shiel around on his back. I would have thought a reasonable day at the office.

 

[AlecDuncan]

Playing injured (so is Simpson - and so was Carrazzo for that matter), and not getting any favours from the umpires. Gets held and scragged at every contest. Probably needed the week off more than Judd did.

He's not helped by our centre bounce setups where our rucks continually hit the ball to precisely the spot where the opposition has numbers. Who is our midfield coach?

 

[T2B_]

Geez, he had 20 touches and laid 5 tackles today, all the while carrying Shiel around on his back. I would have thought a reasonable day at the office.

And without the man-beast known as Judd too.

I do think he does have a niggle or two as his movement just doesn't often seem to be what we're used to, but there's no denying he battles on fairly well.

 

[Shatterpoint]

If Murphy is carrying a niggle, would have been a good thing to rest him today then, just take some heat of him for a week, but too late for that now.

 

[PP34]

Geez, he had 20 touches and laid 5 tackles today, all the while carrying Shiel around on his back. I would have thought a reasonable day at the office.

I'm not saying he was crap. Just hasn't played much like his best yet.

 

[Big_Luch]

Some passes from other players didn't hit him today. So instead of taking a clean possession he had to paddle the ball and get drawn into a contest. Also played a bit fwd where we tried to pop up balls like we do for our key forwards. All this would impact his stats today.

Malthouse isn't flogging him or Judd (like we used too), the rest of the team have to handle some of the workload now so he probably isn't as 'go to' as he once was.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Geez, he had 20 touches and laid 5 tackles today, all the while carrying Shiel around on his back. I would have thought a short day at the office.

efa.

I'm such a bitch.

 

[bluejoker]

efa.

I'm such a bitch.

I agree which is why we have been beaten against better sides and lost to saints. Our stars need to lift. We have no one in brownlow contention although walker has been exceptional.

Murphy and Judd haven't been damaging and that's the major issue. When we play hawks for example we will get smacked if our stars don't play well.

Not sure injury is excuse. I think he needs to work harder, run into space with more conviction. He has defended better this year

 

[SeVi]

I think there's a legitimate question about whether he is carrying an injury. I heard it suggested last week, but from what i can see in the games i've been to it doesn't look like that's the case. Murph has been a pretty offensive mid for most of his career, and after being burnt a fair bit in the first few weeks (particularly the 3 goals conceded to Hunt in rd3) I think he's sacrificing some touches forward of centre in order to be more defensive.

The other thing I would draw attention to is the low disposal numbers of ALL our midfielders. Everyone seems to be down except McLean and perhaps Robinson (whos been a bit more consistent I think). This is to do with our gameplan which has us in the bottom four/five teams for marks and rank 1 for long kicks. Also, the way we use our personnel has changed. Judd playing High Half Forward, Simpson down back, Gibbs and Scotland rolling back. Our unsung heroes in Cachia and Curnow are spending a fair bit of time in the centre also. Lucas has been spending the bulk of his minutes on the wing which has been working for us.

Nevertheless, there has to be concern. When the pressure is applied by the best teams in the league (Hawks, Syd, Essendon and Freo) we need our guns to stand up. If Murph is'nt getting 30+ against teams we are savaging, I worry about what happens when Hocking goes to Murphy next friday.

 

[Danielrocks123]

Seing him today he did not look right at all should have been rested today

 

[The Blue Baggers]

has to be playing injured.

 

[mikeythemoocow]

Not liking the hard tag he gets now instead of Judd

 

[koutamarto]

Nevertheless, there has to be concern. When the pressure is applied by the best teams in the league (Hawks, Syd, Essendon and Freo) we need our guns to stand up. If Murph is'nt getting 30+ against teams we are savaging, I worry about what happens when Hocking goes to Murphy next friday.

Probably what he usually does against the bombers.... What ever the hell he wants.

 

[Bell Ringer]

Getting Carrazzo & Judd back in there will be a massive boost for Murph.