Young guns Raiders captain on cloud nine
David Hamilton describes it as a ''prototype'' of both past and present Raiders lock forwards: tough, uncompromising and with work rates that have rival coaches green with envy.
Raiders under-20s captain Tom Murphy fits that mould.
''He's got a huge work rate defensively and players like playing with him due to his toughness,'' Hamilton said.
''He's a Dean Lance sort of player; he makes the other quality players in the team look good due to all the work he's doing.
''He's developing similarly to Shaun Fensom ... they're the sort of players he's moulding into.''
Murphy has played lock for as long as he can remember and one day hopes to wear the Raiders No13 jersey made famous by club greats Brad Clyde and Alan Tongue.
''It'd be a dream come true to follow along the path of those [past Raiders] locks,'' he said.
''Growing up in Queensland I admired all the good locks, like Dallas Johnson and Ashley Harrison and tried to learn from their style of games.
''At the moment it's probably Shaun Fensom who I model my game on, I love the way he plays.''
While Murphy has a laid-back demeanour off the field, his dedication has seen the Sunshine Coast junior improve year after year despite initially being overlooked for various junior representative teams.
''All I made in the junior reps was Queensland under-18s, which was lucky as it's where I got picked up by the Raiders after playing in the nationals,'' Murphy said.
Since being recruited two years ago, the beach-loving back-rower has gone from strength to strength, earning the respect of Raiders officials and teammates alike.
His consistent defensive efforts have seen him average more than 30 tackles a game but to the modest youngster, it's just business as usual.
''It just comes as second nature to me. I don't really take any notice of it [tackle count] during the game, I just try and get involved as much as possible,'' he said.
Outside back, Chris Medcalf, believes Murphy's appetite for work has strongly contributed to the side's dangerous attack.
''He works hard on and off the field and it's awesome having someone like 'Murph' making 30-plus tackles a game,'' he said.
''It takes a big load off the other forwards and allows the backs to play some attacking footy.''
Murphy clearly loves the defensive side of the game, but it is his attack that has improved remarkably this year after a talk with Hamilton at the start of the year about making the step up to first grade.
''I definitely love the defensive side of the game, but I've been trying to improve my ball playing this year to make myself a more all round player,'' he said.
''Hamo [David Hamilton] really drilled it into me at the start of the year that if I want to make the next step up to NRL I've got to become more of an all round player.''
National Youth Competition, round 11: Canberra Raiders v Canterbury Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium, 5.30pm.
Source: The Canberra Times
Topic: Young guns Raiders captain on cloud nine
