Rookie revelation Lachlan Murphy reveals how a seven-week boot camp made him a Crow
ROOKIE revelation Lachlan Murphy has revealed how a seven-week torture test turned him from SANFL battler into key Crow.
ROOKIE revelation Lachlan Murphy has revealed how a seven-week torture test turned him from SANFL battler into key Crow.
The first player drafted from Adelaide’s SANFL development squad, Murphy — a three-goal hero in the Crows’ season-saving win against Geelong last week — has spoken of how his career flipped on its head in two months late last year.
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The impressive teenager said just weeks after being told by Adelaide that he would not earn an AFL call-up which left him considering a return to Melbourne to play VFL, opportunity unexpectedly knocked when speedster and fellow small forward Charlie Cameron was traded to Brisbane.
Murphy then took a call from Crows national recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie that changed his football direction and life.
It was a case of shape up and shed 5kg and drop 20 seconds off his 2km time trial or ship out.
“At the end of last season Hamish told me they weren’t going to draft me and that I could come back next year and play SANFL again,’’ Murphy told The Advertiser.
“I was tossing that up or returning to Melbourne when Charlie got traded and Hamish gave me a call the next day and said ‘look, there’s a five per cent chance that we’ll take you now’.
“But he said I had to get really fit, that there were three or four targets that I had to reach and that if I did I could come back and train with the (Crows) first-to-fourth year players in the pre-season.
“The rest is history, I reached the targets and was lucky enough to get picked as a rookie.’’
Murphy, 19, had just seven weeks to shave 20 seconds of his 2km time trial — and get it below the required seven minutes — along with losing 5kg of weight and improving his skinfolds.
So he enlisted the help of one of his best friends, Box Hill VFL player Billy Murphy, who runs his own fitness company BMF.
“He’s a good mate and small forward like me who I’ve shared a football journey — we had both been overlooked at the draft — so I asked what he could do for me,’’ Murphy said.
“I said I’ve got seven weeks to get myself in great physical shape — my lower legs are a bit thick so I had to lose a bit of weight there — and that I would give it everything that I’ve got and he took me under his wing.
“I went to Melbourne and he mapped out a plan, a bit of a boot camp, that had me work with him four times a week — a combination of running, swimming, boxing and footy drills — and I managed to knock of all the targets.
“That earned me the right to train with the Crows’ young players when they returned to work and I was lucky enough to, in the club’s eyes, be worth a rookie selection (No. 38 overall).’’
Murphy, who had joined Adelaide’s SANFL team in 2017 after his best mate Matthew Signorello was drafted by the Crows, made his AFL debut against Essendon in round one and has played seven games this year, impressing with his forward pressure and keen eye for goal.
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