Justin Murphy (Australian rules footballer)

Justin Murphy (born 24 April 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with four clubs during his AFL career.

Murphy was raised in Victoria of Indigenous Australian descent. He attended John Gardiner Secondary College and played junior Australian football with the Central Dragons.

Murphy is a true journeyman of the AFL, beginning his career at Richmond, before moving to Carlton, then to Geelong, back to Carlton, then to Essendon, a team he said during his days with Carlton, that he despised.

Murphy is a midfielder who is deadly around goals, and possesses a thumping 55-metre-plus kick. He is remembered as the player who was holding the ball in his hands when the final siren sounded in Carlton's upset 1-point win against Essendon in the 1999 Preliminary Final.

While Murphy performed strongly when initially arriving at Essendon in 2004, in 2005 he had an indifferent year, and with Murphy considering his options post-football, such as being a camera operator for Fox Footy, it was uncertain whether he would retain his place on Essendon's list in 2006.

Days before the deadline for delisting players, Murphy announced his retirement from AFL football in November 2005. He retired from AFL football at 29 years of age.

In 2006, Murphy joined the Heidelberg Football Club in Melbourne's Diamond Valley Football League (later known as the Northern Football League). He played six seasons with the Tigers, in which time he played more than 100 games and won four Premierships. In 2012, he played for the Tatura Football Club in the Goulburn Valley Football League, winning a premiership there; he played for Numurkah in the Murray Football League in early 2013, and returned to Heidelberg in late 2013, then moved to Knox in the Eastern Football League in 2014. Murphy has also played summer seasons in the Northern Territory Football League with Waratah.