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Prolific |
Debate in the sang-et-or.net offices turned to our Hall Of Fame and what we can do to add some more names to it. And so our third former Dragon to enter into it is prolific Australian wingman Justin Murphy. |
Justin arrived in Perpignan to join UTC in 2005, a year ahead of the Dragons joining the Super League ranks. His main experience prior to that was with the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL where he reached a Grand Final in 2002. Hardly the heaviest set bloke, he always had a turn of speed.
The Wakefield defence getting a familiar look at Murph
In that first season in Super League, he started pretty well, bagging a try in the opening day win over Wigan and picking up scores as the Dragons were flogged by Leeds and Bradford. A double in the win at Warrington, the club's first away victory, followed and he continued to chip away with tries flowing at regular intervals, aided in no small part by his centre and fellow Hall-of-Famer, John Wilson. Bruno Verges beat him to the first hat-trick for the club, but he did bag a treble in a loss at St Helens and ended the season with 27 tries in all competitions, 25 in the league making him top try-scorer and earned him a selection to the Super League Dream Team, the first Dragon to be so rewarded.
One of four in a play-off game
The second season wasn't as prolific, but he still bagged ten tries, while 2008 saw him pick up 16 including four in the club's first ever play-off game at home to Warrington.
Celebrating another score with Adam Mogg
For all of his try-scoring expertise, Murphy will probably always be better known for his futile effort in an otherwise best-forgotten game at Wigan. Chasing a kick to the in-goal, he narrowly failed to get to the ball before the dead-ball line, but his momentum took him towards the advertising hoardings which he almost cleared, instead catching his leg and flipping over, crashing into what is now the Justin Murphy Memorial Staircase. Amazingly, he played on. Your current scribe was speaking to Mike Stephenson of the Sky commentary team the day after that game. "I thought he was dead" was Stevo's verdict. Unfortunately, the incident aggravated a longer term shoulder injury and increased absences due to injury saw him end his time at the Dragons at the end of the 2008 season.
Having had that year with UTC, Murphy qualified for France on residency grounds (and he had just bought a French football top) in 2007 and made six appearances including in the 2008 World Cup.
In those early days, Murphy was the only player with any real pace and the only one with any real finishing prowess. He finished his Dragons career with two hat-tricks and that one four-try haul and is still comfortably the club's record try-scorer. The 25 tries in that first season made him the first ever sang-et-or.net player of the season.
Justin Murphy's Dragons career in stats:
Games: 66
Tries: 53
Points: 212
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