The scenic alpine town of Myrtleford, with a population of slightly over 3,200, has a great footy tradition and a habit of producing champions. Twenty-four players – from Len Ablett, to Kevin Smith, the Kekovich brothers, through to present-day stars Jack Crisp and Matt Taberner, have gone on to League football.
And there are a host of other stars who have worn the Red, White and Black…….But few have made a greater impact on the Saints than Brad Murray.
The old champ reflects
Celebrating a Myrtleford goal against Wangaratta
It’s a classic sporting story…..
The Murrays are a well-known family in the town, and dad Trev (‘Trapper’), who was sport-mad, built a sizeable reputation as a star cricketer. His three boys made their first foray onto the sporting arena as soccer players with Myrtleford Savoy Club’s Under 7s to U12s.
However, once they swung over to play U13 Aussie Rules with Myrtleford Juniors they became a fixture at the McNamara Oval.
“We were always around the footy club from an early age; we used to run the water and the President would give us $10 to operate the old manual scoreboard for the Thirds games,” Brad recalls.
“I loved running the water for the Seniors……Idolised the older blokes like Brendan Breen, Andy Dale, Michael Quirk and Justin Pascoe…..”
Brad played Under 16s, then won the Thirds B & F in 1999. He says he almost achieved his long-held dream of a senior debut that year…….
“We were struggling, and the coach, Ian ‘Bimbo’ Wales had teed me up to play…..I was set to go, then ‘Bimbo’ must have got cold feet…..He said: ‘Nah, I’m gonna play….”
He became entrenched in the senior side the following year, aged 17, under new coach Luke Rayner, who’d been lured from West Perth, along with recruits Ronnie Skender and the Rigoll twins (Kim and Chris).
The Saints, continually fighting above their weight, had been on a roller-coaster ride for decades, but improved dramatically, and reached the Grand Final in 2001 – their first in 31 years.
Brad missed a good slice of that season, playing in the VFL with the O & M-aligned Murray Kangaroos, but returned to the Myrtleford side for the finals……
“I remember when we won the Preliminary, the emotion around the place was massive………..I used to think the O & M was the biggest competition ever, and for us to make the Grand Final was a big thing……..Loyal people around the Club were crying with joy……I was crying along with them…..”
“The build-up to the Grand Final against Lavington was huge – and so was the crowd…….But Lavi were the best side that year, and knocked us off by 10 goals…..”
***
Now regarded as one of the competition’s ‘guns’ (the first of his 6 O & M rep games came in 2001) he was recruited to West Perth, where he became an overnight success:
“I went over, not knowing what to expect……My fitness standards weren’t great back then…..and training was up a level from what I’d been used to…….I went there as a winger, and got thrown straight into the mid-field….”
But it turned out to be a terrific 2003 season for the youngster…..
He was runner-up in the Club B & F, voted the WAFL’s Rookie of the Year, and played a prominent part in West Perth’s premiership win over Subiaco.
“It remains one of my great thrills in footy, that flag….” Brad says…..”They play a different style of game over there….pretty quick…. the grounds are huge, so it’s quite open, and a good standard.”
West Perth celebrate their 2003 flag – Brad Murray’s inaugural taste of premiership glory.
He continued his form the following year, winning the B & F, and representing WA against the VFL……He had unofficially committed to the Falcons for another season, when the clarion call came from home…..The Saints were on the re-build, having already signed Travis Hodgson as coach and recruited players like Andy Carey, Nick Barnes, Craig Miller, Rhys Fitzpatrick and David Steer.
Additionally, the captaincy carrot was dangled in front of him.
West Perth weren’t rapt in their best player departing, and also offered him the captaincy, but homesickness played its part….. besides, there was the opportunity to line up alongside his brothers, Hayden and Mark …….
***
It would be an understatement to call 2005 an eventful season for Brad ……….
The Saints had picked up the wooden-spoon in ‘04, winning just one game……..Within three rounds of ‘05 they needed to re-assess their goals after they blitzed reigning premiers, Wodonga, by 64 points at Martin Park.
They charged to the minor premiership, dropping just four games, with a percentage 37.6 above the nearest side…….. Excitement-levels were at an all-time high in the Ovens Valley….
Despite missing four games with a broken arm, Brad’s stellar form was rewarded when he took out the Morris Medal, two votes in front of Jason Lappin, and six clear of the pre-count favourite – his good mate, Andy Carey.
Alas, when he was reported, and sent from the ground during a fiery Second Semi, his – and Myrtleford’s – season was in turmoil. A large melee erupted…….. Wangaratta cut the deficit to just seven points whilst Brad was cooling his heels. But the Saints regained their poise, to win by 13 points and qualify for the Grand Final…….
The Saint star receives his marching orders in a fiery 2005 Second Semi-Final
The Murray clan: Brad, Mark and Hayden
In a dramatic backdrop to the O & M finals series, he was handed a controversial 1-week suspension……..Myrtleford lodged an appeal, and enlisted prominent AFL player’s advocate Ian Findlay to represent him – the day after he had been awarded the Medal.
The Appeals Board revoked the suspension……He was now free to play in the Grand Final……
When Myrtleford hit the front in the last quarter it appeared that emotion would sweep them to victory……They had the support of a roaring crowd of 15,000…..and still held a five-point lead when the siren blew……..
Unfortunately for the Saints, Lavington skipper Darren McKimmie had marked, 35 metres out, a split-second earlier………
Amidst pandemonium he kicked truly after the siren, to hand his side victory in one of the most thrilling O & M deciders of all-time…..
***
“It was certainly heart-breaking,” Brad says……”but no more so than the following year when we faced Yarrawonga in another Grand Final…..”
He had broken his leg during the season…….Two weeks into his come-back he broke his shoulder……..He had a month off, then re-cracked his leg……an injury he carried into the big game……
“It was blowing a gale to one end…..probably a 6-7 goal breeze……and I lost the toss……” he says.
“The Pigeons kicked a few out of their arse in that first quarter, and led 10.7 to 1.1……the game was as good as over…..even though we chipped away, and ended up getting beaten by about 5 goals…..It was hugely disappointing…..”
During the off-season, a deputation from SANFL club Port Adelaide, led by their renowned Football Manager, Bob Clayton, visited Myrtleford and coaxed him into challenging himself in what they rated ‘the best footy outside the AFL’……
“I must admit, it was an honour to be courted by this famous Club with heaps of history……Besides, they offered to pay for my shoulder ‘Reco’…….I decided to head over there….”
He missed the first six games recovering from the operation……the following season he broke his collarbone in the opening round……But in 2009 – his first full year with the Magpies, he ‘turned it on’, and won the B & F by roughly 100 votes……
“It was probably the best year of my career…..They’re so passionate over there……It’s a great standard…..the footy’s more congested than the WAFL…..very professional……I really enjoyed the SANFL experience …..Particularly the big games – like Port v Norwood”……..
That prompted me to ask Brad whether he’d ever been approached by an AFL club……
“Put it this way, I’d have loved to have had the opportunity, but I never really got close enough for it to be on my radar……”
“I got cut by the Bushies……Played those few games with the Murray Kangaroos…..Played an intra-club game with West Coast in 2004………There was occasional talk that someone may have been looking, but nothing eventuated……”
***
In the meantime, Brad had met his now-wife, Jane, and moved back to Melbourne…..At about the same time he began a mature-age Carpentry Apprenticeship.
His phone was running hot with offers, including a few from O & M clubs……“But I never considered playing with anyone there, bar Myrtleford,” he admits……
Instead, a close connection with the Echuca Football Club arranged a job for him and he spent a couple of successful years with the Murray Bombers.
One of the highlights was spearheading the Goulburn Valley to a win over the O & M, under lights at Lavington, in which he collected the VCFL Medal as best afield.
Preferring to play closer to his home in Melbourne in 2012, he signed on with Blackburn, the home club of one of his Echuca team-mates, Kristian Height.
“The Eastern District Footy League grounds are pretty small…….They call Blackburn’s home ground, ‘The Pit’, and it was good to play there in front of a passionate home crowd….But we only won six games in what they termed a ‘below-par’ season…..Again, though, it was a terrific experience….”
***
Myrtleford beckoned once more……..After enduring the longest winless drought in O & M history during the late 2000s, they’d shown steady improvement under non-playing leader Stan Magro.
Now Brad and Leigh Corcoran were charged with the task of succeeding the ex-Collingwood star:
“To be able to coach your home club is a pretty big thing…..A town like ours rides on the fortunes of the footy club and you really feel the responsibility,” he says.
Undoubtedly the coaching highlight came in 2016, when Myrtleford engaged in a rags-to-riches ride from wooden-spooners to finalists. With everyone riding them home in a superb Elimination Final, they fell just 12 points short of Wodonga Raiders.
“I never knew Leigh that well beforehand, apart from playing against him when he was at the Raiders……We worked well together in the four years we shared the coaching, and we’re best mates now….”
Brad’s own form was exemplary….He finished in the top six of the Morris Medal count in three of those years, and took out the Saints’ B & F in 2013,‘15 and ‘16.
Brad recalls a win earlier in the season, which gave him equal satisfaction:
“We’d been humiliated by 215 points by Albury…..The next week we came out and beat a strong Lavington side at home, in the wet……There was an immense feeling of pride in this young side, being demoralised, then coming out and knocking off second on the ladder….”
***
Brad initially hung up the boots at the end of 2017. His body was starting to falter and he was finding it difficult to contribute in the manner he desired………..
“We‘d also just had Bodie, our third youngster, and he was having a few issues, health-wise. I thought it was the right time to get out but I was really struggling with it,” he says…..
Mentally, I found it hard not going to training……..You don’t realise the hole it leaves…..”
“I went ‘cold turkey’ for a while, then the Club wanted me to present a guernsey to a debutant in the opening round of the season……”
“Watching them prepare…….following the game closely…..I started to become emotional……They were young, and were getting pushed around a bit. I thought I’d left ‘em in the lurch…..I felt I should be out there helping them…..”
Towards the end of the season, he succumbed to the persistent requests from an old opponent, Craig Ednie, and had a run with Picola League club Rennie. It resulted in another premiership – 15 years after his first..
He thought that successfully ‘scratched the itch’, but Myrtleford were embarking on another fairy-tale run in 2019 and everyone kept asking him: ‘When are you coming back ?’ “
“Suddenly, I was back in the thick of it….”
The Saints brought the finals series to life with dramatic wins over Wodonga Raiders and powerhouse Albury……..When they drew level with Lavington, early in the last quarter of the Prelim, their fans dared dream the impossible.
But the Panthers broke clear to win by 21 points…..
The stellar Brad Murray career was over……….
Until a fortnight ago, that is, when, to complement his role as the Runner for the Senior side, he was called into action to help out the depleted Saints Reserves.
This time, he promises, the comeback will be short and sweet………..
THE BRAD MURRAY CAREER
Myrtleford – 175 games. Best & Fairest – 2013, 2015, 2016. (Thirds B & F 1999)
West Perth – 44 games. Best & Fairest – 2004. Premiership – 2003
Port Adelaide – 59 games. Best & Fairest – 2009
Echuca. – 42 games. Best & Fairest – 2011
Blackburn – 18 games. Best & Fairest – 2012
Rennie – 6 games. Premiership 2018.
REPRESENTED: Ovens & Murray (6), West Australia , Goulburn Valley, VCFL.
LEAGUE HONOURS: O & M Morris Medal (2005), WAFL Rising Star (2003)
The first swansong – 2017
This story appeared first on KB Hill’s website On Reflection and is used here with permission.
All photos sourced from KB Hill’s resources unless otherwise acknowledged.
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