Former Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy leaves door open to coaching career

FORMER Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy has no regrets about retirement but he does miss one thing about football which has left the door open for a return to club land.

BOB Murphy has left the door open for a potential coaching career, revealing the one thing he misses since retiring from football is mentoring young players.

The former Western Bulldogs captain, who retired last season after 312 games, has elected to step away from club land this year and pursue a media career which includes a new role with Fox Footy which will see him host his own weekly television show.

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The 35-year-old said he had no regrets about retirement and was enjoying some separation from the game after 18 years but admitted there was a “bait” to return to the AFL that would not go away.

“I think I squeezed all the juice out of the lemon,” Murphy said of ending his playing days.

“People have been asking me, ‘Have you had a little tinge of missing it?’ and I just haven’t.

“I’m sort of enjoying a bit of distance from the game at the moment. I’m loving the stuff that I’m doing because it’s got a bit of variety but the footy bait is always there so who knows down the track.”

Retired Bulldog Bob Murphy misses the mentoring side of the game. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Murphy spent most of the 2016 season assisting the Bulldogs’ coaches after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in Round 3 of the club’s breakthrough premiership year.

While the experience showed him he was not cut out for senior coaching, Murphy said he had a passion for helping young players improve their games.

“It was fascinating to watch the game over the shoulder of Luke (Beveridge) and the other coaches but what I love about the coaching side of footy is the one-on-one stuff, the pure coaching of the relationship with the players,” he said.

“If I miss anything about the game it’s those conversations and the mentoring of young players. That’s what I got a real kick out of. The moving of the magnets around on match day is not in sweet spot.”

A start date is yet to be confirmed for Murphy’s new Fox Footy show, Bob, but guest requests have begun being sent out.

“I think it will be different to anything we’ve seen in footy which is exciting but also a little bit scary,” Murphy said.

“I think it will be a good mix of guests and an eclectic bunch of people.”