Lion of the Round: Round 16

Jack Murphy has been named round 16’s Lion of the Round, after a strong performance against Port Melbourne on the weekend.
 
Murphy’s 15 disposals didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet but his performance left the coaches very pleased with his efforts. He was playing his 12th game but has only came back into the team against Sandringham after a stint at local level. Since returning to the Coburg lineup, Murphy has repaid the coaches faith and all but cemented his spot in the 22.
 
His role since returning to the side has largely centred around taking charge of the midfield and ensuring the structures and setup’s are correct around stoppages while also concentrating on the defensive side of his game.
 
“Covering off our oppositions exits and getting on the end of our overlap transition is something that is expected of me as an outside midfielder,” Murphy said, “I was able to have a very sound defensive game [on the weekend] and cover off exits and press forward playing as an outside midfielder, alongside using the ball well going the other way.”
 
“Playing my individual role within our team system is what I am most pleased about as that’s what we strive to do each week,” he said.
 
Murphy joined the club this season after showing consistent form in the Goulburn Valley Football League where he played for Seymour.
 
He says the speed of ball movement and the impact mistakes can have are the biggest changes after stepping up to VFL level this year.
 
“There is little room for mistakes out there, especially with decision making and skill execution,” he said, “Another big difference is the high rotations on and off the field, something that took me a couple of weeks to get used to.”
 
At the start of the year, with a high number of new players and coaches at the club, Murphy says it took the team a while to learn the new gameplan and structures. Now with 16 rounds played, he feels the team has started to execute it and play their own brand of footy.
 
“Over the first half of the season you could say that sides dictated to us and made us reactive, however over the last month of footy we have been the dictators,” he said, “We are now making experienced VFL football sides go away from their game plan to try and adjust to beat ours, it’s exciting!”
 
Although Coburg has played some good footy over the past weeks, Murphy still thinks it needs to continue to work hard, kick goals at crucial times and stick important tackles to get a few more wins on the board before seasons end.
 
The Lions will take a well deserved break this weekend but will be back at Piranha Park to host Werribee on the 4th of August after the bye.