Adelaide needs more Lachlan Murphy. His own stats are nothing to write home about in his frontal pressure role, but it wasn't his fault that the Crow forward line sank to mid-table from its previously lofty heights. They need more of his chase out of a forward pocket, which doesn't always show up in his three tackles per game but more in the exotic stat of the pressure act. Murphy's presence is important not for his own production, but for what he enables his teammates to do. Repeat forward entries have not been a focus of the team up to now, and that has increasingly become a deficiency in the modern game. He should work alongside the likes of Tyson Stengle and Ned McHenry to create a new murder of Crows.
Murphy the mowdown merchant
Adelaide needs more Lachlan Murphy. His own stats are nothing to write home about in his frontal pressure role, but it wasn't his fault that the Crow forward line sank to mid-table from its previously lofty heights. They need more of his chase out of a forward pocket, which doesn't always show up in his three tackles per game but more in the exotic stat of the pressure act. Murphy's presence is important not for his own production, but for what he enables his teammates to do. Repeat forward entries have not been a focus of the team up to now, and that has increasingly become a deficiency in the modern game. He should work alongside the likes of Tyson Stengle and Ned McHenry to create a new murder of Crows.
Lock Murphy into a pocket
One of the areas that Adelaide has historically been poor at is frontal pressure, and in Lachlan Murphy they have found a tonic for that ailment. They went 7-4 with him and 5-6 without him last season. Four tackles per game may not seem that much, but it's just what the team needs out of a forward pocket. This has been an excellent story for the club out of a terrible year. Murphy is not particularly useful for fantasy coaches as, like most of the Richmond forwards whose game his most resembles, they pay a lot more attention to instructions for work without ball in hand than the finishing touches.
Murphy starts from way back
In a full season of SANFL footy last year, Lachlan Murphy matched most of the statistical exploits of his new senior-listed teammate Tom Doedee at half back going at a rate of 16 touches a game, though his intercepts weren't quite as numerous and he was more energetic on the rebound. He played inside midfield at TAC Cup level the year before, and is the first Crow drafted from their development squad. The comparison with Doedee will probably mean Murphy is behind him in the pecking order on the Adelaide list, albeit that reserves experience shows they can work together. He will compete as a backmarker to win the spot left by Brodie Smith, and may end up being upgraded for him. Unless that happens before round 1, he can be safely left in the free agent pool as a midseason pick up.
