Opinion
AFL grand final
Premiership pickle: Why all the winning club’s players – not just the 23 – should get a medal
After the grand final, all the winning club’s players should be given a medal as acknowledgement for what great teams are – a collective. A gang. One.
- by Bob Murphy
Latest
Opinion
AFL 2021
He’s not the Messiah, he’s the Bont: How we knew Bontempelli would be a star
At the risk of over-reaching, Marcus Bontempelli is a football Moses. We knew we had a special one at the Bulldogs almost as soon as he got to the club.
- by Bob Murphy
Opinion
AFLW
Fierce and proud: Being the Bulldogs’ runner has helped me get women’s footy
Last season one of our players calmly asked me, “are my teeth knocked out?” There was not a hint of panic in her voice. These girls are tough.
- by Bob Murphy
Analysis
AFL 2020
The moments that keep footballers awake at night
If winning is king in Australian football, bravery might run a close second. Everyone is a judge now and the verdicts are increasingly acidic, especially online.
- by Bob Murphy
'It's OK to be jealous, Cal': Bob Murphy talks to injured GWS captain
Bob Murphy and Callan Ward were teammates and great friends at the Western Bulldogs. With Ward out injured as the Giants look to win their first flag, the two have much in common.
- by Bob Murphy
Opinion
AFL 2019
Holding a single fist high for a big-hearted Saint
Danny Frawley was in the process of blowing up the stereotypes of what it was to be a man in this modern world. For a person who lived a life as big as Spud, it might turn out to be his enduring legacy.
- by Bob Murphy
Opinion
AFL grand final
Entering a season of optimism, except for those teams not in the hunt
"Cocktails and dreams" from the 1980s movie Cocktail was the preferred diet of the fictional Doug Coughlan and the eventual name Bryan Flanagan, also fictional, bestowed upon his own bar as an homage to his flawed friend.
- by Bob Murphy
Analysis
AFL 2019
Roos acted on what they could see, but will the Blues?
North liked what they saw and hired Rhyce Shaw. But there is a lingering feeling the Blues aren't sure they've got their man.
- by Bob Murphy
Opinion
AFL 2019
Identity on the line as season approaches home straight
A stirring victory to the Birregurra Saints, spurred by an equally stirring pre-match address, got me thinking about who the AFL premiership contenders really are as the finals come into view.
- by Bob Murphy
Opinion
Western Bulldogs
After touching the stars, can the Dogs now scale the mountain?
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. It's been half a century since Neil Armstrong took that giant leap for mankind.
- by Bob Murphy
Opinion
Western Bulldogs
When the smell of jasmine is a long way off
Out Footscray way, we often referred to “the July test”, the month where the true believers dig deep to forge ahead and leave the pretenders behind.
- by Bob Murphy
Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/by/bob-murphy-hveuq