Colac talent Tobyn Murray opens up on being overlooked in the mid-season draft and his hot form for the Tigers
Tobyn Murray watched on as one of his mates achieved their AFL dream, but he missed out. After starring at local level in Geelong, he is striving to come back bigger and better.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Lifelong dreams are realised in the AFL mid-season draft when overlooked talents finally get their chance at the bigtime.
But only 20 players were picked a fortnight ago.
Tobyn Murray was among those who missed out.
He watched on as his long-time Colac and Geelong Falcons teammate Will McLachlan joined Brisbane at pick six.
The two went through the mid-season process together along with Geelong VFL and Falcons ruckman Joe Pike and St Joseph’s wingman Liam Kershaw, the quartet all playing in the Young Guns series.
Murray burst onto the radar with a four-goal haul in just his second VFL game for Geelong early in the season, before impressing for the Young Guns as a midfielder in game one and a forward in their second match.
But injury struck at the worst possible time, with back inflammation and then a hamstring niggle keeping him out of action in the month before the draft.
He attracted interest from a handful of clubs but didn’t have any interviews.
“It is a pretty exciting time with the build-up to mid-season. A lot of things happening and people contacting you and whatnot, so it was really good to go through that with Will,” Murray said.
“It definitely is (difficult) when you put everything into dedicating everything towards footy and the end goal is to get drafted and on the night your name doesn’t get called out.
“It is pretty downgrading and sort of gets to you mentally, but you just try to focus on what you can control, and that’s the back-half of the season for me.
“You can’t dwell on it too much, I’ve got to move on.”
It has been Pike and his best mate Osca Riccardi who have helped him stomach the disappointment of missing out and continue to strive for his AFL dream.
Pike put up a strong case to recruiters, kicking two goals on debut for Geelong VFL and dominating for the Falcons, but his name wasn’t called either.
Meanwhile, Riccardi, the son of Geelong great Peter, was delisted after just one year on Geelong’s AFL list.
Golf has also been a welcome release for Murray – and he hasn’t had to pay for a hit in a while. He has been working at 13th Beach golf course as a greenkeeper.
“I love going for a hit of golf and just clearing your mind. You don’t think about much on the golf course and it’s definitely a good spot to get out and walk around with mates and have a hit and not worry about anything,” Murray said.
“Golf has been great but it is also good to have people like Joe Pike and my best mate Osca Riccardi, he went through the process of getting drafted and getting delisted.
“(Pike and I) had a chat about it after and said, ‘we are still in a great position and have an opportunity down here at Geelong VFL, so make the most of it down here and look to the back-half of the season and help each other strive and get to where we want to.’”
It has seen Murray pick up where he left off since the mid-season draft in a barnstorming fortnight for Colac in the GFNL.
Playing alongside his older brother Chaise, Murray racked up 22 disposals, six inside 50s, six marks and three goals against Lara before tearing Geelong West to shreds with a goalkicking haul of 7.3, 25 disposals and nine marks.
“Had one of those days where sort of nothing could go wrong really. Just come off the boot right pretty much every kick, it was good,” Murray said.
“I’d never played a senior game with my brother, Chaise, until last week, so it’s been really special.”
His long-term goal is to make it on an AFL list, but for now Murray will continue to chip away and vie for a spot in Geelong VFL’s side – easier said than done given they are second on the ladder.
“Main goal at moment is keep playing consistent footy and give them no reason not to put me up for selection. If I do get my opportunity again just play consistent footy and try and crack into the team,” Murray said.
“A good group of us down there, the likes of Osca Riccadi, Paddy Hughes, Ethan Borys, Tom Peirce and ‘Pikey’, there is a little group of us ex-Falcons boys and it’s been really good to be able to go through Geelong VFL with those boys and help each other through.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Colac talent Tobyn Murray opens up on being overlooked in the mid-season draft and his hot form for the Tigers
Call for Newman’s AFL honours to be reviewed after neo-Nazi guests
Sam Newman drew condemnation for inviting neo-Nazis on his podcast. An activist believes the AFL and Geelong need to reconsider his Hall of Fame and legend status, and Newman has hit back.
Frank feedback, tough first season fuelling forgotten 2023 draft ‘gun’
Connor O’Sullivan was handed the coveted No.14 guernsey at Geelong. But as other top 2023 draftees turned heads, he was stuck on the outer. However, it looks like it will be a different story in his second year.