A slightly late bloomer from the Central West, Panthers’ outside back Nick Murphy is now one of the first players picked each week in Penrith’s Jersey Flegg side.
“Nick came to us through our Western Rams program and started with us at SG Ball level,” Penrith Pathways’ manager Lee Hopkins told Big League.
“He got an early crack at Jersey Flegg, but probably wasn’t quite ready when that opportunity came. But he went away and over the last 18 months has developed into a tremendous footballer and just as importantly, an absolutely terrific kid.”
Hopkins said he still wasn’t sure what Murphy’s best position was but said he has the type of x-factor that pushes players to the highest level of rugby league.
“He scored a pretty incredible try in NSW Cup last year against Wests where he managed to catch the ball and kick it in one motion to beat his opponent and score.
“It was just freakish and he’s got the ability to do something like that every game, where anyone watching would go ‘wow, that was just unreal.”
“Murphy will split his time between NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg this year and Hopkins said it was difficult to compare him to another player at the club.
“He’s taken his own path and that’s what we love about him. He’s a very strong runner of the football. He’s not a big body, but he’s extremely strong and hard to tackle and he just puts everything into every session and every match he plays.
“I think the thing I like most about him is that he has the ability to learn from his mistakes, which isn’t always the case with young players.
“We’ve already seen him bounce back from some early set backs and I think those experiences will set him up well for his footy and his life after footy as well.
Hopkins oversees all of Penrith’s pathway teams and said age often wasn’t the determining factor when it came to picking players in sides at the foot of the mountains,
“It’s really up to the individual but we certainly don’t hold kids back because of their age. If they are up to it, then we try to push them forward and at the moment, we’ve probably got five or six guys playing NSW Cup that are eligible for Flegg.
“Then you’ve got a guy like Casey McLean in the NRL squad as well. If they are up to it, we want our guys playing at the highest level they can.”
