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Karyn Murphy has always been a team player. She has always had to be.<\/p>\n
After 26 years in the police force, followed by seven with the NRL\u2019s integrity unit, the 53-year-old Gold Coast Titans coach knows the value of being able to trust those around you.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see so many similarities between policing and sporting in general. In police, you\u2019ve got to have each other\u2019s back every single day and you\u2019ve got to trust each other, and importantly everyone\u2019s different,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got all different skill sets and if you can get people confident, and get the best out of them individually you\u2019ll have a really strong team.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big part of the reason she has been such a success on the Gold Coast. After picking up the wooden spoon in 2022, Murphy transformed the team to lead them to the NRLW grand final this year for the first time in the club\u2019s history. It\u2019s also the first time a female-coached side has reached the decider.<\/p>\n
Jillaroo No.41, Murphy played 15 seasons for Australia and captained them for 14 having made her debut in 1998 against Fiji. By the time she retired in 2013, after lifting the World Cup with the Jillaroos, she had played 27 Test matches. But it takes time for good players to become good coaches, and the past two years have been a massive learning curve.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karyn Murphy and Karina Brown after the Titans\u2019 semi-final win over the Roosters.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NRL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still very new to it,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of good people around me that support me, and some experienced NRL coaches that also are there to provide guidance to me, and I\u2019m really thankful for all of those people. I\u2019ve got a lot of things to learn, but I\u2019m happy with how we\u2019re progressing.\u201c<\/p>\n One of those people is incoming Titans NRL coach Des Hasler.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s done a tremendous job,\u201d Hasler says. \u201cShe handles the responsibility really well. She has accountability, too because she was a real pioneer. She did a lot [for women\u2019s rugby league] in its infancy. She\u2019s a bit of a legend. Women\u2019s rugby league has just become such a wonderful entity in its own right. So, I think that\u2019s really important for her, and she gets to mentor young girls, young women that are aspirational and chasing dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Murphy is never one to blow her own horn. Even after picking up the Dally M coach of the year award this week, she attributed the award to her team. One thing she does acknowledge is how far the game has come since she retired from playing.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the girls that played in my time would say the same thing \u2013 that we would always take some steps forward, and we\u2019d think things were going to happen, and then we\u2019d get told no,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was only in 2013 that we were formally supported, where we could take our full-strength side to a World Cup, rather than self-funding and players not being able to afford to go.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was 10 years ago, and for women to have the opportunity to play for NRL clubs, that was spoken about a long time ago, but was never a reality. And so, for that to happen so quickly and expansion now to 10 teams, it\u2019s certainly well deserved, but I didn\u2019t know if it would ever happen.\u201d<\/p>\n To her players, she\u2019s as much as a trailblazer as she is a leader. Olympic silver medallist Niall Williams-Guthrie said Murphy was the reason she signed with the Titans. \u201cShe\u2019s a great person as well as coach. She actually cares about you as a person,\u201d Williams-Guthrie said. \u201cShe\u2019s that coach that makes you want to play for her, you want to do the best you can out there for her because of what she gives to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, there are calls for Murphy to be recognised for her impact on the game, with Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell pushing for her to become an immortal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe currently have 13 Immortals, who have all made extraordinary contributions to the game, but they are all men,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cIt is time we had a female immortal and Karyn is added to this group. There is arguably no person who has been more influential to the female game of rugby league than Karyn.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the NRLW Grand Final Exclusive Live and Free on Channel 9 and <\/i><\/b>9Now<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
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