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Newly-appointed Western Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy felt compelled to fill the role after one of the most turbulent off-seasons in the AFL club’s history.
With Murphy’s predecessor Ryan Griffen sensationally walking out on the Bulldogs last month to join Greater Western Sydney and 2008 Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney being traded to Essendon, there were few candidates remaining on the list to fill the leadership void.
Murphy was a unanimous choice to skipper the Dogs and the 32-year-old admitted it took him by surprise.
“It had never been a burning ambition for me but with the last couple of months and ‘Griff’ walking away, I felt compelled to step forward and haven’t doubted that instinct for a second since,” Murphy said at Whitten Oval on Friday.
“It’s quite surreal, I felt like a draftee again but also a veteran in the same moment.
“I’m really proud … this is my football club for half my life and it means everything to me.
“I’ve played under some of great captains in our club’s history and to be part of that lineage is something really special.”
Murphy, a 271-game veteran who heads into his 16th season in 2015, is nearing the end of his stellar career.
But although he is confident of playing for a few more years he will also be putting energy into grooming the club’s next captain.
“There’s a lot of great young leaders coming through the club and part of my role is to nurture that coming through and if guys want more responsibility then I’ll be happy to nurture that as well,” Murphy said.
New Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said that while a shortlist for the club’s next captain had not been compiled yet, Murphy was the perfect candidate to oversee that process.
“We’re rapt that he wants to be the captain,” Beveridge said. “It’s not just being the figurehead and being a spokesperson and a representative of the football club, it’s (about) helping people get better.
“That’s one of the great qualities about Murph and it’s one of the main reasons why it’s a unanimous (decision) that we want him to be captain of our football club.”
The club’s leadership group for the 2015 season hadn’t been decided on yet.
After so much tumult at the Bulldogs since the end of the season, which also saw former coach Brendan McCartney resign, Murphy sensed the stormy waters were starting to calm.
“There is a real different energy among the playing group,” Murphy said.
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