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Murphy's Lore: Tales from the West
Bob Murphy – footballer, music fan, dog walker, coffee drinker, hand shaker, train traveller and tree lover – has been a favourite of footy followers for many a year. Now captain of his beloved Western Bulldogs, he’s showing the young pups at the Kennel how to play the great game the right way.
Collected here for the first time are the best of Bob’s much-loved weekly newspaper columns – including his ‘Fantasy Football League’ teams of film stars, musos and pollies. From the strange joy of a wet Melbourne winter to the challenge of playing on the sublime Stevie J, Murphy’s Lore shines with the warmth, wisdom and charm of the Dogs’ evergreen champion.
Collected here for the first time are the best of Bob’s much-loved weekly newspaper columns – including his ‘Fantasy Football League’ teams of film stars, musos and pollies. From the strange joy of a wet Melbourne winter to the challenge of playing on the sublime Stevie J, Murphy’s Lore shines with the warmth, wisdom and charm of the Dogs’ evergreen champion.
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2015
8 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Bob Murphy
3 books1 followerBob Murphy played for the Western Bulldogs for 17 years and was their captain from 2015 to 2017. In 2015 Murphy was named captain of the year at the AFL Players Association awards and was also captain of the All-Australian team. The following year, the Bulldogs won their first premiership in 62 years. Murphy has written regularly for The Age, and his first book was Murphy’s Lore.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 14, 2021
Postscript added 14 May 2021
Here are thoughtful and well-observed insights into the world of an Australian Rules footballer and life at his club, the Western Bulldogs.
Bob Murphy is a veteran player with a fine reputation, won through the consistent application of great skill and style: sure handedness, good decision-making, the ability to kick accurately with either foot and to dash out of defence. While many Australian Rules footballers boast comparable achievements and repute, and there are also more than several players (and former players) who are columnists, they usually comment about on-field action and off-field issues and developments. Bob Murphy does something quite different.
He takes us by the hand into the clubhouse and shows us the life of footballer in his special community. In the process he talks about his routine, his teammates, his coaches, the club workers and volunteers and charmingly about his wife and young children, his ‘little family’.
His whimsical column is always personal: taking his toddler Jarvis with him to training twice a week to the newly established crèche at the club; clinics out in the community for young school kids who are always enthusiastic (and always ask: ‘What’s the hardest team you’ve versed?’) And at one stage he makes a tactical error at a team meeting post game, by sitting at the very front of the room and receiving blistering criticism from a frustrated and disappointed coach.
I marvel at how even at veteran status he has a release of nervous energy and anxiety prior to a game; his enjoyment at the younger players coming through; how an opponent, Geelong’s Steve Johnson, led him a merry dance; the camaraderie of the club and the joy of going on road trips. Murphy’s column celebrating the life of club legend, Charlie Sutton, Captain Coach of their only premiership, became one of the readings at his funeral.
Murphy has been writing his column in the Melbourne Age newspaper since 2007, and while still a young man, he is old (and wise) in football and media terms.
Postscript
At the start of the 2016 football season, a well-known AFL commentator said: ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful to see Bob Murphy raise the premiership cup after the grand final’ a benign throwaway for a favourite son, on the back of a promising 2015 for the perennially struggling Western Bulldogs.
And so it came to pass, like a biblical promise.
Bob Murphy, captain of the club, raised the cup in the company of acting captain Easton Wood and Luke Beveridge, head coach in his second season. At the end of his speech to the crowd, Beveridge stopped, went back to the microphone and called Murphy to the dais. Beveridge then hung his own medallion as premiership coach round Bob Murphy’s neck.
This intimate personal drama, in front of the 100,000 fans at the ground and millions watching, says a great deal about the Western Bulldogs and the key people at the helm. As the players gathered round the dais and the precious premiership cup, we reflect that the team joined the competition in 1925 but had tasted success only once before- in 1954. Always a struggling club from the unfashionable western suburbs of Melbourne, subject to immense pressure to amalgamate or relocate out of Melbourne to another state, the Western Bulldogs have survived. In 2016 they played a sensational finals series, winning four matches in a row, including in successive weeks, victories over both the 2015 grand finalists, on their home grounds. They came from seventh position, which had never been done before.
While coach Beveridge has imbued his players with a winning approach (lightning interconnected handball, fast ball movement and fierceness at the contest), it was Murphy who contributed much to the ultimate success of the team. A season ending knee injury - anterior cruciate ligament - early in the season put him out for twelve months. He could have easily retired, gone away, sulked or just quietly done his rehabilitation. But he was conspicuously present throughout the season, in the coach’s box at games, in the dressing room and on the training track. Behind the scenes he lent encouragement to his young teammates with his word and by example. Like the stories in his book he represents the soul of his football club.
The Western Bulldogs victory was a fairy-tale end to the season, which could have been so easily been gone awry.
The day after the Grand Final Murphy returned Luke Beveridge’s coach’s medal and between them they decided to hand it to the Western Bulldog’s Museum for all to see. Pure class.
Here are thoughtful and well-observed insights into the world of an Australian Rules footballer and life at his club, the Western Bulldogs.
Bob Murphy is a veteran player with a fine reputation, won through the consistent application of great skill and style: sure handedness, good decision-making, the ability to kick accurately with either foot and to dash out of defence. While many Australian Rules footballers boast comparable achievements and repute, and there are also more than several players (and former players) who are columnists, they usually comment about on-field action and off-field issues and developments. Bob Murphy does something quite different.
He takes us by the hand into the clubhouse and shows us the life of footballer in his special community. In the process he talks about his routine, his teammates, his coaches, the club workers and volunteers and charmingly about his wife and young children, his ‘little family’.
His whimsical column is always personal: taking his toddler Jarvis with him to training twice a week to the newly established crèche at the club; clinics out in the community for young school kids who are always enthusiastic (and always ask: ‘What’s the hardest team you’ve versed?’) And at one stage he makes a tactical error at a team meeting post game, by sitting at the very front of the room and receiving blistering criticism from a frustrated and disappointed coach.
I marvel at how even at veteran status he has a release of nervous energy and anxiety prior to a game; his enjoyment at the younger players coming through; how an opponent, Geelong’s Steve Johnson, led him a merry dance; the camaraderie of the club and the joy of going on road trips. Murphy’s column celebrating the life of club legend, Charlie Sutton, Captain Coach of their only premiership, became one of the readings at his funeral.
Murphy has been writing his column in the Melbourne Age newspaper since 2007, and while still a young man, he is old (and wise) in football and media terms.
Postscript
At the start of the 2016 football season, a well-known AFL commentator said: ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful to see Bob Murphy raise the premiership cup after the grand final’ a benign throwaway for a favourite son, on the back of a promising 2015 for the perennially struggling Western Bulldogs.
And so it came to pass, like a biblical promise.
Bob Murphy, captain of the club, raised the cup in the company of acting captain Easton Wood and Luke Beveridge, head coach in his second season. At the end of his speech to the crowd, Beveridge stopped, went back to the microphone and called Murphy to the dais. Beveridge then hung his own medallion as premiership coach round Bob Murphy’s neck.
This intimate personal drama, in front of the 100,000 fans at the ground and millions watching, says a great deal about the Western Bulldogs and the key people at the helm. As the players gathered round the dais and the precious premiership cup, we reflect that the team joined the competition in 1925 but had tasted success only once before- in 1954. Always a struggling club from the unfashionable western suburbs of Melbourne, subject to immense pressure to amalgamate or relocate out of Melbourne to another state, the Western Bulldogs have survived. In 2016 they played a sensational finals series, winning four matches in a row, including in successive weeks, victories over both the 2015 grand finalists, on their home grounds. They came from seventh position, which had never been done before.
While coach Beveridge has imbued his players with a winning approach (lightning interconnected handball, fast ball movement and fierceness at the contest), it was Murphy who contributed much to the ultimate success of the team. A season ending knee injury - anterior cruciate ligament - early in the season put him out for twelve months. He could have easily retired, gone away, sulked or just quietly done his rehabilitation. But he was conspicuously present throughout the season, in the coach’s box at games, in the dressing room and on the training track. Behind the scenes he lent encouragement to his young teammates with his word and by example. Like the stories in his book he represents the soul of his football club.
The Western Bulldogs victory was a fairy-tale end to the season, which could have been so easily been gone awry.
The day after the Grand Final Murphy returned Luke Beveridge’s coach’s medal and between them they decided to hand it to the Western Bulldog’s Museum for all to see. Pure class.
April 21, 2019
Men of Good Feelings
I wouldn’t say Bob Murphy is a great writer or journalist (or sentence creator), but he is a man of feelings, and he writes with feeling and sincerity about the things in his football life, and, by extension, in every other footballer's life.
The type of football is Australian (Rules) Football, which superficially means that this book of collected newspaper articles might have little relevance or interest for readers outside Australia.
However, what is universal about his subject matter is the passion of childhood dreams, recognition of the demands of professional sport, acknowledgement of the rewards of teamwork and mateship, and respect for the traditions that grow up around teams and clubs and their followers (not to forget successive generations of their families).
The Reflective Rascal
I don't recall reading any of these articles in The Age, when they appeared weekly on a Thursday from 2007 to 2014. Where I lived, you could only get The Age delivered a day late, and I only subscribed to the Friday, Saturday and Sunday editions.
Bob Murphy played for the Western Bulldogs from 1999 (when he was drafted at number 13) until 2017 (when he retired after a year plagued by injury in 2016, which deprived him of an onfield role in the team that won the grand final for the Bulldogs for the first time in 58 years). Your heart ached for this player who missed out on a medal because of injury.
Bob had obviously established a media presence while still a player. Despite his reflectiveness, he had a self-conscious reputation as a quintessential ratbag, a scallywag, and a rascal, which he pursued briefly in television after his retirement (he created the award "Rascal of the Year" for the AFL 360 show on Fox Footy).
Brazen Sentimentality
A Bohemian and relative outsider from corporate sports culture, he managed to combine in one person two sides of a team culture that embraces both young and old: “the brazen confidence of youth and the weathered sentimentality of the aged”.
Bob is clearly not just a follower of footy. Fans of Australian music will delight in the many references to Paul Kelly (the singer, not the Swans midfielder), Tex Perkins (not Tex Walker) and Tim Rogers.
These musicians have influenced Bob as much as any footy players. However, a more immediate influence on his writing has been a fellow Age writer, Martin Flanagan, who belongs to the great Australian ratbag tradition of John Hepworth and Sam Orr [Richard Beckett](who wrote for the counterculture magazine Living Daylights and the later Nation Review in the 1970's), Mungo MacCallum and Bob Ellis.
Bob has a dualistic attitude to the past: like his approach to football, he has the ability to both “Show some respect" and “Play on! Knock it out! Keep it moving!”
SOUNDTRACK:
I wouldn’t say Bob Murphy is a great writer or journalist (or sentence creator), but he is a man of feelings, and he writes with feeling and sincerity about the things in his football life, and, by extension, in every other footballer's life.
The type of football is Australian (Rules) Football, which superficially means that this book of collected newspaper articles might have little relevance or interest for readers outside Australia.
However, what is universal about his subject matter is the passion of childhood dreams, recognition of the demands of professional sport, acknowledgement of the rewards of teamwork and mateship, and respect for the traditions that grow up around teams and clubs and their followers (not to forget successive generations of their families).
The Reflective Rascal
I don't recall reading any of these articles in The Age, when they appeared weekly on a Thursday from 2007 to 2014. Where I lived, you could only get The Age delivered a day late, and I only subscribed to the Friday, Saturday and Sunday editions.
Bob Murphy played for the Western Bulldogs from 1999 (when he was drafted at number 13) until 2017 (when he retired after a year plagued by injury in 2016, which deprived him of an onfield role in the team that won the grand final for the Bulldogs for the first time in 58 years). Your heart ached for this player who missed out on a medal because of injury.
Bob had obviously established a media presence while still a player. Despite his reflectiveness, he had a self-conscious reputation as a quintessential ratbag, a scallywag, and a rascal, which he pursued briefly in television after his retirement (he created the award "Rascal of the Year" for the AFL 360 show on Fox Footy).
Brazen Sentimentality
A Bohemian and relative outsider from corporate sports culture, he managed to combine in one person two sides of a team culture that embraces both young and old: “the brazen confidence of youth and the weathered sentimentality of the aged”.
Bob is clearly not just a follower of footy. Fans of Australian music will delight in the many references to Paul Kelly (the singer, not the Swans midfielder), Tex Perkins (not Tex Walker) and Tim Rogers.
These musicians have influenced Bob as much as any footy players. However, a more immediate influence on his writing has been a fellow Age writer, Martin Flanagan, who belongs to the great Australian ratbag tradition of John Hepworth and Sam Orr [Richard Beckett](who wrote for the counterculture magazine Living Daylights and the later Nation Review in the 1970's), Mungo MacCallum and Bob Ellis.
Bob has a dualistic attitude to the past: like his approach to football, he has the ability to both “Show some respect" and “Play on! Knock it out! Keep it moving!”
SOUNDTRACK:
March 23, 2016
Murphy is a modest man both on and off the field. He is a working man's thinker who observes and absorbs the sights, sounds and smells of his beloved city, music, football code and football club. He pays homage to those in the game who have influenced him. For a man who says he struggled at school he shows great intellect. He is also a proud husband, dad and dog owner.
Murphy tells his short stories of life on and off the football field with humour, loyalty and passion. He shows how to deal with the highs and lows (mainly lows) of playing AFL in a battling club where winning the big prize has continued to be elusive. I thought his wearing of the old guernsey on the cover and the term Footscray throughout his book shows he sees the club for what it is - the F.F.C. and not the branded Western Bulldogs.
Murphy tells his short stories of life on and off the football field with humour, loyalty and passion. He shows how to deal with the highs and lows (mainly lows) of playing AFL in a battling club where winning the big prize has continued to be elusive. I thought his wearing of the old guernsey on the cover and the term Footscray throughout his book shows he sees the club for what it is - the F.F.C. and not the branded Western Bulldogs.
April 11, 2015
Robert murphy is the heart and soul of the westen Bulldogs. My favourite player ( So I am really biased) but I really enjoyed reading this collection of his articles. It gave me more insight in to my team and captain. His writing is engaging and brilliant. The players you admire are those who give you glimpses of their true self.
April 22, 2015
I'm an Eagles supporter, but have always enjoyed Murphy's articles in The Age. A very simple view of the game and the many characters who inhabit it. But, also highly original. Can't wait to read more from him in the future....
May 25, 2015
Didn't want this book to end. I'm a Saints supporter but we can all relate to Bob's love for his club and all things Footscray. A lovely collection of articles on what it means to be a Melburnian in football season.
December 24, 2020
Murphy quotes a lady who whispered in his ear once about his weekly columns “you’re not as clever as you think.” I’d agree for about the first half of the collection. The back half shows his maturity as a writer and the articles are more interesting and insightful.
May 21, 2018
Stories and stylings lightly written.
January 27, 2022
Great book to read by one of AFL's greatest players. I am a Footscray supporter, however, I found that this book could have better with leaving out Bobs's team of musicians and politicians.
May 1, 2016
I was a bit disappointed that, instead of being an actual autobiography, this book is made up of a selection of the columns Bob Murphy wrote for The Age newspaper between 2007 and 2014. Murphy has added a comment at the end of several of the columns, but that’s all.
However, I still feel the book provides a pretty good insight into what it is like to be an AFL player. In particular, it provides an insight into how brutal and tough it can be both physically and mentally. For example, a sobering fact that Murphy states is that “the average career of an AFL footballer is about 43 games – not even two seasons”. The book hints at the mental toughness that the game requires. Murphy describes how, if you are not the most popular and well known player in the team, children express their disappointment week in week out when you turn up to conduct footy clinics at schools and at Auskick sessions. (In particular he describes how this happened to him and his team mates when Barry Hall was playing for the Bulldogs.) Murphy also describes how the crowd at footy matches, (both supporters of the opposing team and of your own team), people in the street, shop assistants, and so on, often feel compelled to tell you what they think of how you and your team have played.
Murphy describes the nerves and tension he has felt before games, the sleepless nights he has experienced after his team has lost, and so on. The descriptions of injuries him and other players have sustained are quite harrowing. Above all, though, Murphy often stresses the importance of the friendships he has made playing the game and his love of the game.
However, I still feel the book provides a pretty good insight into what it is like to be an AFL player. In particular, it provides an insight into how brutal and tough it can be both physically and mentally. For example, a sobering fact that Murphy states is that “the average career of an AFL footballer is about 43 games – not even two seasons”. The book hints at the mental toughness that the game requires. Murphy describes how, if you are not the most popular and well known player in the team, children express their disappointment week in week out when you turn up to conduct footy clinics at schools and at Auskick sessions. (In particular he describes how this happened to him and his team mates when Barry Hall was playing for the Bulldogs.) Murphy also describes how the crowd at footy matches, (both supporters of the opposing team and of your own team), people in the street, shop assistants, and so on, often feel compelled to tell you what they think of how you and your team have played.
Murphy describes the nerves and tension he has felt before games, the sleepless nights he has experienced after his team has lost, and so on. The descriptions of injuries him and other players have sustained are quite harrowing. Above all, though, Murphy often stresses the importance of the friendships he has made playing the game and his love of the game.
December 27, 2016
I really enjoyed Bobs collection of articles that told a story of the ups and downs of his club over the years. I remember being at a number of these games and the ups and downs that we rode with Bob and the other players. Enjoyed the humour and recommend that anyone else who loves Bob reads this and gets hold of the DVD 'The Ride' filmed mostly about Bob during the 2015 AFL season. Edit: Even more poignant now that the Western Bulldogs are the AFL 2016 Premiers. Without Bob who was injured back in round 3 against the three time Premiers the Hawks. Bobs story with the club continued with a twist. The experts said they couldn't do it without him. Now they need to do it again with him.
August 23, 2016
Such a good read, does he still write for the age, I hope so, I want to read more of his articles.
October 16, 2015
Entertaining and funny. Great mix of football and life stories.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews