Deck of Dream Team 2012: Marc Murphy

Name: Marc Murphy
Club: Carlton
Position: Midfield
Assistant Coach Price: $551,300
Bye Round: 13
2011 Average: 111
2011 Games Played: 22
Predicted Average: 118

Why should I pick him? Last year Marc Murphy took his game from good to great and this was reflected by an increase of 12 points per game. He now stands as one of the elite players in the competition and will now come at an inflated price, however he ticks a number of boxes that mean he needs to at least be considered. Murphy is a hard working ball magnet who last year collected 30+ disposals on 11 occasions and racked up 100+ DT points in 16 of his 22 games including an impressive score of 145 in round 10 vs the Demons showing he has captain qualities. Although at times he cops a tag, it is usually a secondary one as the main defensive focus tends to go towards Judd and this year Murphy proved he can score effectively when faced with the negative attention where in the past doubts had lingered over his ability to do so. Marc has proven over his career that he is unbelievably durable, only missing 1 match in the last 5 years and its nice to have premium players that you can be confident will take the park on a weekly basis. As Carlton’s bye falls in round 13, his selection would limit the damage through the bye rounds due to a minimal  number of premium mids set to miss that round with Gibbs, Mitchell and Ablett the main ones in my eyes.

Why shouldn’t I pick him? There are not many reasons why Marc shouldn’t be selected. An argument could be made that it has taken him 6 years to make that significant leap to the elite level and he will likely not make another improvement in average. It has already been well publicized that Bryce Gibbs will have an increased role through the midfield and that “time” needs to come from somewhere meaning Marc will possibly be pushed out of the middle on a more regular basis.

Deck of DT Rating: King- Marc is an absolute gun and part of a significantly improving team which is why I think he will push Ace status by the end of the year. Even if Marc’s midfield time did decreased, it will not be enough to negatively affect his scoring and may actually give him the opportunity to kick a few more goals to add to his already respectable 19 last year. If you like Murph, there is no reason not to pick him, he is reliable and will improve again. Structure is the only reason he is unlikely to line up for destROY as I currently have my original “boy” Gibbsy in there.

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