Former Corrib out-half signs up with Connacht
Feature
Rob Murphy
NOT even the most accomplished online recruitment agency could have found Brian Murphy his latest job. At the age of 26, his chances of professional rugby looked far-fetched but Connacht have come calling and that dream is going to become a reality.
“I wouldn’t say it’s something I had essentially being working towards,” the native of Moyne, a townland between Glencorrib and Headford, told The Mayo News last week.
“I have worked hard at improving for Galwegians over the last couple of seasons and I guess the ‘A’ caps for Connacht this season came out of the blue and led to this. It’s genuinely a case of this just falling into place as a result of my performances in the AIL. I can’t say it was a goal from the outset.”
The story is an unlikely one for many reasons. While Murphy has worn the green of Connacht before at youth and under 21 level, he missed out on an academy place and got on with his studies, securing a Civil Engineering degree and playing rugby with Galwegians and Corrib while remaining a stalwart with his home GAA club, Shrule/Glencorrib.
“I’ve been involved in both Gaelic football and rugby for a long time and I guess the role they play has varied,” he explained.
“In the last couple of seasons I concentrated hard on progressing with Galwegians but I would have put my heart and soul into both sports and I really couldn’t say which one I preferred more.”
Up until two seasons ago, Murphy’s senior rugby experience was intermittent as he was what is termed a ‘dual status’ player with both Galwegians and his local junior club Corrib.
The city club asked him to become a full senior player two seasons ago and that sparked an upsurge in his rugby career that has seen him establish himself as their first choice centre at All-Ireland League level.
Murphy had a fine season for the sky blues in the centre this year, despite their relegation from Division 1B and won the Connacht AIL ‘Player of the Season’ award for good measure.
However, he didn’t see that or his form as a natural progression towards full-time rugby.
“I guess you’d see other senior players getting Connacht ‘A’ caps at the start of the season and think to yourself, ‘that would be nice’ but it was by no means a given.
“The provincial academy supplies the vast majority of players to that grade and I wouldn’t have thought they would be in need of me.”
It would be nice to paint this as a story of perseverance, having a dream and never giving up on it; Murphy was a regular in green at underage level and was part of the Connacht side that toppled Leinster at under 21 level in Donnybrook back in 2006.
But that’s just not the case.
“I probably wouldn’t be the most single-minded person in the world. I just take things as they come. Even when I was involved at U-21, you were aware of the players who were getting contracts and who weren’t, I wouldn’t be the kind of person who is overtly confident so I just enjoyed being part of it and didn’t think beyond that.”
Not playing football this summer will be a strange feeling for the man who established himself as a key part of a strong half-forward line in Shrule last season.
Instead he’ll be getting in some extra work ahead of linking up with Eric Elwood, a player he watched in action for Galwegians at Crowley Park as a kid alongside his father.
“It’s going to be huge life change, training every day as a professional sports person. I don’t know what to expect, I’m excited but I have no doubt it will be tough work. Not an awful lot of people get an opportunity to do that, day in day out.
“I hope it goes well and I get a chance to wear the jersey and if nothing else, working with the likes of Eric [Elwood] and Dan [McFarland] will be a great experience for me. I’m just looking forward to it.”
