Should Murphy have shirked the contest?

[Chewy]

This was just an accident, two good players going hard for the footy. There is no more to this. People need to pull their heads in if they think Murphy held back here.

Yeah, I agree. I'm just saying why I think Murphy got hurt in this instance

It's a technique thing. He is courageous and prepared to wear a bit of high contact to get a free kick, but there is going to be times when he gets crunched. It's similar (in some ways) to Joel Selwood in past years when he would bore in and leads with his head without any fear for the consequences (eg the collision with Farren Ray)

Maybe he was thinking ahead about what he'd do when he got it, winding up for a spin move, as someone has just suggested. If so, bad idea for him to do that against Hodge.

 

[QuietB]

Murphy was going for the ball regardless of Hodge. Hodge had the foresight to recognise he was going to make contact before he got the ball and protected himself by steeling himself for the contact. Nothing to do with not going in hard enough as a character flaw. Murphy is simply a ball player who ignores potential contact, while Hodge is a ball player who recognises and counts on the contact.

Well put. There is no doubt Hodge is one of the best at preparing himself for contact - he managed to knock Zeibel out earlier this year taking a regulation chest mark. It is not a slight on Murphy's courage at all - in fact the opposite is true.

 

[gbatman]

you can get hurt playing football. true story.

 

[KoutoufidesGhost]

I believe the problem (as Alves suggests) is that Murphy does indeed, and quite often, go into contested situations, but doesn't commit to them with the same intensity and aggression as others. Sometimes, unfortunately, you can't teach a player how to do this. One's level of instinctual aggressiveness/anger/intensity can be argued to be apart of their DNA.

It's pretty simple. Hodge hit that contest from the back of the square, Murphy was in the middle and was circling around as the ball was being knocked back and forth.

If you watch Murphy and Dangerfield collision from last year, he protected himself and met the ball was momentum. It was just bad luck he ended up with a broken shoulder then, and on Friday night it was just wrong place wrong time against a fired up Hodge who was looking to make a statement off the back of the square.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Its probably the first time in Murphy's football career he had a legitimate reason for collapsing on the ground as if he was shot.

Ha, you're aiming for the village idiot mantle obviously. Incapable of genuine discussion so you flat out troll teams you hate on the main board. Did his collarbone in a tackle in his first season, did his shoulder in the clash with Dangerfield last season and now this. Your ignorance just ruins the experience for the rest of us.

 

[Some Idiot]

Hodge having momentum while Murphy didn't was the major factor in the contest, Murphy didn't see the contact was coming either so didn't protect himself.

 

[SSSSSS]

You don't want your captain shirking any contests. He is there to set an example and the tone for the match. Hodge is an injury prone as they come but he still uses his body as a battering ram. It's unfortunate that Murphy got injured and is susceptible to this sort of injury but he can't afford not to put his body on the line for the sake of his team and showing the requirements needed to play at the highest level.

 

[Spook]

Murphy should have turned his body and gone hard like Hodge did.

 

[Hawkas1988]

Murphy should have turned his body and gone hard like Hodge did.

It's not a question of Murphy going in hard or not, It looks like he was getting ready to pick the ball up then try and do something quickly with it, whether that was a quick handball or to grab and run off and hit a target, hodge was just going hard for the ball as that's his style. Murphy wasn't soft at all in this instance it was just unlucky and the timing had a lot to do with that.

 

[bluespooner]

Ha, you're aiming for the village idiot mantle obviously. Incapable of genuine discussion so you flat out troll teams you hate on the main board. Did his collarbone in a tackle in his first season, did his shoulder in the clash with Dangerfield last season and now this. Your ignorance just ruins the experience for the rest of us.

Hodge is living proof that you can be hard at the contest without having to resort to eye gouging or chicken wing tactics. Hodge is a genuinely straight down the line hard footballer, he doesn't make cheap shots or take short cuts, he attacks the football in the manner which we grew up watching and playing.

I applaud Hodge for the way he goes about his football. For carlton posters in this forum calling for his suspension, it just shows how delusional they are and the sour grapes displayed post the game on Friday night. Perhaps, they feel justified in indulging in this behaviour due to the appalling manner and comments of the carlton coach in his post-match interviews. The ungraciousness has flowed straight through from the carlton coach to the supporters.

Where were the same carlton posters complaining about the umpiring after the Adelaide and carlton game this year when the free kicks favoured carlton by a margin of 21 to 12. Or maybe, they could have complained about the umpiring on the 8 other occasions, during Hawthorn's 10 game winning streak against carlton, when the free kick tally has favoured carlton - extremely heavily on occasion as well.

As for Murphy, his legacy is that he plays for free kicks i.e. intentionally falls on the ground and appeals for free kicks. This detracts from whatever, ability he might have as a footballer.

 

[mrsdoyle]

no but he could try hardening the **** up.

 

[Pie eyed]

you can get hurt playing football. true story.

Murphy is the captain.
His job to lead from the front in all areas.
Mick would be happy with the effort if not the result.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

I feel sorry for guys like Murphy. When you spend you whole pre-season playing bruise free footy with Juddy, Betts, Gibbsy, Lucas, Bootsie and Walks, you are going to forget that it's a contact sport and you need to get the footy, but not get 'knocked the f_ _ _ out'.

Needs to do a pre-season at a tougher club like the Dees.

 

[Poseidon]

Lol @ Bigfooty.
Murphy plays for free kicks/avoids contests : Murphy is soft
Murphy gets injured in genuine contest : Murphy is a dumb footballer
Maybe he should learn to lift his elbows when running through a pack to be considered among the bravest footballers.

 

[themidlandmaster]

Hodge is living proof that you can be hard at the contest without having to resort to eye gouging or chicken wing tactics. Hodge is a genuinely straight down the line hard footballer, he doesn't make cheap shots or take short cuts, he attacks the football in the manner which we grew up watching and playing.

I applaud Hodge for the way he goes about his football. For carlton posters in this forum calling for his suspension, it just shows how delusional they are and the sour grapes displayed post the game on Friday night. Perhaps, they feel justified in indulging in this behaviour due to the appalling manner and comments of the carlton coach in his post-match interviews. The ungraciousness has flowed straight through from the carlton coach to the supporters.

Where were the same carlton posters complaining about the umpiring after the Adelaide and carlton game this year when the free kicks favoured carlton by a margin of 21 to 12. Or maybe, they could have complained about the umpiring on the 8 other occasions, during Hawthorn's 10 game winning streak against carlton, when the free kick tally has favoured carlton - extremely heavily on occasion as well.

As for Murphy, his legacy is that he plays for free kicks i.e. intentionally falls on the ground and appeals for free kicks. This detracts from whatever, ability he might have as a footballer.

And Hodge never has?

 

[Silvagnis]

I feel sorry for guys like Murphy. When you spend you whole pre-season playing bruise free footy with Juddy, Betts, Gibbsy, Lucas, Bootsie and Walks, you are going to forget that it's a contact sport and you need to get the footy, but not get 'knocked the f_ _ _ out'.

Needs to do a pre-season at a tougher club like the Dees.

Unsociable football doesn't change players who are soft like Smith, Breust, Gunston, etc. Only need to recall the efforts of Hawthorn's receivers in last year's Grand Final.

It's unfortunate that a list of Hawthorn's best mids and defenders would be closer to 30 and the end of their careers than the start.

 

[SSSSSS]

Unsociable football doesn't change players who are soft like Smith, Breust, Gunston, etc. Only need to recall the efforts of Hawthorn's receivers in last year's Grand Final.

It's unfortunate that a list of Hawthorn's best mids and defenders would be closer to 30 and the end of their careers than the start.

Say what you want about the other two but Breust takes hits as good as anyone in the comp.