Justin Murphy (born 24 April 1976) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

, the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

(twice), the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

and the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

of the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Early life

Murphy was raised in Victoria, and is of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

descent. He attended John Gardiner Secondary College and played junior Australian football with the Central Dragons.

AFL playing career

Murphy is a true journeyman of the AFL, playing his 185 games at four different clubs.

Richmond (1994–1995)

Murphy was recruited by

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

at number 3 in the 1993 National Draft. He made a sensational start to his senior playing career when he kicked five goals for the Tigers in his debut in Round 11, 1994 against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

. After he clashed with Richmond senior coach John Northey, and doubts about his discipline began to emerge, Murphy was traded to Carlton at the end of the 1995 season. Murphy played for Richmond from 1994 until 1995 for a total of 12 games and kicked 9 goals.

Carlton (1996–2000)

Murphy was traded to Carlton at the end of the 1995 season. At Carlton, Murphy was then allocated guernsey number 18, and made his debut for Carlton in the opening round of 1996 against Collingwood. Murphy notched up 19 possessions, 6 marks, 7 tackles and his first goal for his new club. Rounding off an impressive year, he played finals football for the first time, although the Blues didn't lift when they needed to, and were eliminated by successive losses. He is remembered as the player who was holding the ball in his hands when the final siren sounded in Carlton's upset 1-point win against

in the 1999 Preliminary Final. At the end of the 2000 season, after Murphy didn't see eye to eye with Carlton senior coach

Wayne Brittain Wayne Brittain (born 13 June 1958) is a former coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Career Playing career In his playing career, Brittain played for Zillmere Eagles in the Queensland State League. He ...

, Murphy was traded to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

. Murphy played for Carlton from 1996 until 2000 for a total of 79 games and kicked a total of 76 goals.

Geelong (2001)

After Murphy was traded to

, he played a total of 18 games and kicked a total of 9 goals in his only season at the club in the 2001 season.

Return to Carlton (2002–2003)

Murphy was traded back to Carlton at the end of the 2001 season. After he was traded back to Carlton, Murphy and Carlton senior coach

appeared to settle their differences this time around. but the 2002 season turned into an unmitigated disaster for the club. Decimated Carlton was in a rough time. Brittain was sacked as senior coach of Carlton at the end of the 2002 season, having overseen the Blues’ first-ever wooden spoon, while the entire playing list was subjected to intense scrutiny. Although Murphy's statistics for the year had been relatively good where played 20 games, 15 goals, average 19.5 disposals per game. In 2003, Carlton's disarray continued after being found guilty of breaching AFL salary cap rules. Murphy found this period tough and averaged just 14 disposals in his 16 matches in the 2003 season. Murphy then had a falling-out with Carlton senior coach Denis Pagan and the match committee and then requested a trade to

at the end of the 2003 season. Murphy in his second tenure with Carlton from 2002 until 2003 played a total of 36 games and kicked a total of 29 goals.

Essendon (2004–2005)

Murphy was traded to

at the end of the 2003 season. He was involved in the infamous " Line in the Sand" match while playing for Essendon in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and was the only Essendon player to be handed a match suspension after the game. Murphy announced his retirement after he was delisted by Essendon after the conclusion of the

2005 AFL season The 2005 AFL season was the 109th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

. Murphy played for Essendon from 2004 until 2005 for a total of 40 games and kicked a total of 28 goals.

Post-AFL career

In 2006, Murphy joined the

Heidelberg Football Club The Heidelberg Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Heidelberg, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League (Australia), Northern Football League. The club also has a junior side, known as the Heidelberg Junior ...

in Melbourne's

Diamond Valley Football League The Northern Football Netball League (NFNL), formerly known as the Diamond Valley Football League (DVFL) and later the Northern Football League (NFL), is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Diamond Creek, Victori ...

(later known as the Northern Football League). He played six seasons with the Tigers, in which time he played more than 100 games and won four Premierships. In 2012, he played for the Tatura Football Club in the

Goulburn Valley Football League The Goulburn Valley League (GVL), also known as the Goulburn Valley Football Netball League (GVFNL), is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. History The leag ...

, winning a premiership there; he played for Numurkah in the

Murray Football League The Murray Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales from Shepparton in ...

in early 2013, and returned to Heidelberg in late 2013, then moved to Knox in the Eastern Football League in 2014. Murphy has also played summer seasons in the

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football competition, operating in Greater Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and the Northern Territory, formerly run by the Northern Territory Football League Incorporated a ...

with

Waratah Australia’s famous waratah (genus ''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, and Tasmania). The be ...

Criminal convictions

In 2008, Murphy was convicted of stealing a woman's purse as it lay unattended on the counter of a Williamstown bank. It was also reported that he failed to pay an ordered $400 donation to a Black Saturday bushfire appeal that was part of his penalty for the theft. In 2010, Murphy was arrested when police found two bags of crystal methamphetamine in his car. After initially telling police the drugs were his, in court his lawyer claimed he had been claiming to protect his wife. Murphy pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of a drug of dependence and was released without charge on a 12-month good behaviour bond. His lawyer also made an unsuccessful bid to suppress the details of the charge. In 2017, Murphy was sentenced to 6 months in prison after pleading guilty to 28 charges, including unlawful assault, aggravated burglary and making threats to kill. The charges related to a series of attacks on his former partner, Jill Scott, one of which involved him holding her down and burning her finger with a blowtorch. As a result of her injuries, she had to have her finger amputated. Murphy blamed his actions on his addiction to the drugs meth and GHB.

References

External links