Marc Murphy didn’t see his goal of the year contender curve through the big sticks

IT was one of the goals of the season, seen by thousands of fans at the MCG and live on television. It’s just a shame the man himself didn’t get to see it. WATCH THE GOAL

Marc Murphy after the weekend win. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

CARLTON captain Marc Murphy did not see his Goal of the Year contender sail through the big sticks on Sunday, only realising it had when he looked up at the scoreboard.

Hard on the boundary line in the forward pocket, Murphy received a handball from teammate Bryce Gibbs and swung onto his right foot to snap a miraculous banana goal midway through the third term of the Blues’ clash with Essendon.

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Bumped by Bomber David Zaharakis as he took the kick, Murphy fell backwards and only realised it was a goal when the scoreboard ticked over.

“I thought it felt pretty good … and looked up at the scoreboard and saw it went through,” Murphy said.

“The funny thing, about 30 seconds before I thought, ‘I’m going to kick a goal here from the boundary’.

“I don’t know why I was thinking that. And then it sort of panned out the way it did. As soon as Gibbsy handballed it to me I thought, ‘I’ve got a bit of time here, I can slot it’. I always practice out there, going into the rooms kicking bananas, so I thought I’d have a crack at it and luckily it went through.”

The skipper said he was proud of his young team’s effort and intensity in the hard-fought 15-point triumph.

Seven Blues celebrated their first wins for the club, including forward Jack Silvagni who had to wait 11 games into his AFL career to celebrate a victory.

Five of the other six players thrust into the middle when the team song was sung post-match had 15 games of experience between them entering the clash.

“To share it with our young guys who haven’t won a game of football at AFL level before and to do it against Essendon at the ‘G in pretty tough conditions is something those guys will remember for a really long time,” Murphy said.

“So it was good to get a win first up for the club this season and for our young guys to experience it and us senior guys to be there with them was really exciting.”