Pies defender Nathan Murphy talks media scrutiny, concussion and finding a home at Collingwood
Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy freely admits he has no idea what he is doing quite often when he crosses the white line, which has made him so effective in the Pies’ stout defence.
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Nathan Murphy is a pest.
If you need evidence don’t ask the opponents he has driven so crazy with his grappling and close-checking tactics that two have literally thumped him this year.
For supporting witnesses don’t quiz critics like Dermott Brereton, who believe Murphy repeatedly pushes the line with his off-the-ball behaviour then flops theatrically when opponents retaliate.
Best to go to the man himself, who freely admits he has no idea what he is doing quite often when he crosses the white line.
Flopper? Pest? Serial agitator.
Guilty to all charges, your honour.
Although the seriously chilled Murphy, who preferred a surf and some golf across the weekend to watching upcoming opponent GWS torch Port Adelaide, does have one bone to pick.
How can we complain that he went down easy in the hit that saw St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti suspended when it literally knocked him out.
In the age of fierce denials, it is a thoroughly refreshing attitude from Murphy as he enjoys a career-best season in Collingwood’s back six.
He has spent that year under the media’s fierce glare given striking suspensions opponents to Caminiti and Willie Rioli, as well as the lack of a contentious free kick when Adelaide’s Darcy Fogarty crunched him as he rose to mark.
But according to Murphy, he would hate playing on himself just as much as those opponents he routinely beats.
‘I am someone who‘s stayed out of the media a lot of my career, which has been great. But this year, it was bound to happen. I am a pest on the field,” he tells this masthead.
“I do some things where I don‘t know what I’m doing half the time. I think I’m just so in the moment that I just do some stuff and after games, I’m like, “Why the hell did I do that?” And mum was definitely not liking that I was in the media a bit more.
“But I think that‘s just me. I’m just annoying on the field. A lot of players would probably hate me, but I’m just trying to bring my personality, which is all part of it.”
So does he flop too easily in contests?
“There have been times where I couldn’t control it. I had the Caminiti one where I was knocked out. So I couldn‘t really control how I went down. Rioli was just more that I didn’t expect what was coming. The thing for me is I don’t get many touches so I have to make the most of it whenever I can. But I do flop a bit. There are arms and legs going anywhere, but I am so in the moment that just happens. (The grappling and defensive tactics) are all part of it trying to get under the forwards skin. So they’re gonna react and I react a lot. So yeah, it’s just all part of the game.”
Murphy dodges as much media as he can and yet invariably it is his friends who will highlight the hot takes from footy’s review shows.
He won’t deny that the discourse finds a way to him and yet it does seem like the controversy could not bother him less.
“A lot of my mates have got into me about what people have said. I don’t watch or listen to a lot of footy media. So it was funny to hear because I hadn’t been through it before. But I am learning to cope and we have just turned it into a laugh. I am probably one who doesn’t take things too seriously, so it’s all fun and games.”
That perspective is easy to find when Murphy is playing such a critical role in such a successful team given his injury history.
After two games in his debut season of 2018 his 2019-2020 seasons were wipe-outs as he endured a fractured face and ankle dislocation as well as a series of horrible concussions.
At times those head knocks had him blacking out and vomiting repeatedly given their severity.
Through it all the former junior cricketing prodigy from Brighton Grammar hoped rather than knew he had what it took to play at AFL level.
This year after banking 31 games across 2021-22 he has been one of the first picked as a courageous lockdown defender allowing Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore to play a more expansive intercept game.
“I obviously found my way last year but this year has probably been my most consistent in terms of playing games,” Murphy says.
“It’s the first year I haven’t had an injury that’s kept me out for a bit so yeah, I think it’s been a career-best year. I think it’s because of what the boys around me are doing and what (defensive coach) Brendon Bolton has instilled in terms of belief that I am actually good enough to be here.
“Last year I was finding my feet so this year it’s about making that spot my own. I am really grateful I have been able to do that because it wasn’t looking like that last year when I got injured. It’s been a crazy couple of years.”
Murphy jokes his only role is to hold out his opponent to allow Moore to intercept or handball to Nick Daicos if he somehow finds the Sherrin but his 2.3 intercept marks a game highlight his modesty.
Thankfully his single concussion this year saw him missing Anzac Day but dodging any of the symptoms that had seen those head knocks jeopardising his career.
“No ongoing symptoms, which is good. I am really grateful that I recovered quickly and I was able to get back. It’s great that the doctors are putting your welfare at the front. I have learnt over time. Even dad, who is kind of an older-style footballer has learnt your head is more important than he used to believe. We love our football but in the future I also want to be able to be the best I can be,” he says.
Murphy is putting that head to good use with twin degrees in Physical Education and Environmental Science, with the self-confessed “footy head” who never wanted to leave the club admitting it eventually wore him out.
Like Geelong, Collingwood makes it a priority to get players in and out of the club – often training only two and a half days a week – which allows Murphy the work-life balance he thrives on.
“The average career is only four or five years, which is crazy. So I think it’s really important that if the AFL is paying for uni you would be stupid not to take something up.”
On Friday night he will take the white-hot Jesse Hogan or Jake Riccardi, aware the cameras might hone in on their match-up.
He will take that challenge and the attention in his stride, just as his current chief executive Craig Kelly did as a close-checking defender for all those years.
It would do Hogan well to ignore Murphy’s quirky antics or he will find himself as the latest in a long line of opponents driven to distraction and yet thoroughly beaten by his skill and closing speed by the final siren.
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Originally published as Pies defender Nathan Murphy talks media scrutiny, concussion and finding a home at Collingwood
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