Australian Football

The younger brother of Frank Murphy, Len Murphy was an altogether tougher and more hard-nosed proposition, who ultimately gave Collingwood somewhat longer, if not necessarily qualitatively superior, service. He actually began at Williamstown, where he captured the attention of a recruiting official from Essendon, but ultimately the lure of playing in the big time alongside his brother proved too strong, and he signed for Collingwood. Between 1928 and 1937 he played a total of 173 VFL games, mainly as a ruckman, and booted 105 goals.

Murphy was a member of premiership-winning combinations in 1928-9-30, but missed the winning Grand Finals of 1935 and 1936 through injury and suspension respectively. After spending the entire losing 1937 Grand Final against Carlton warming the bench, he retired from league football and spent the period from 1938 to 1939 as captain-coach of Wimmera Football League club Nhill. In 1940, however, he made a return to the VFL with Footscray where, over the ensuing couple of seasons, he added a final 25 games and 28 goals before retiring for good.

Author - John Devaney