“Show a little faith, there’s magic in the night.”

 Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road

Anyone who has had  a cursory glance at Bob Murphy’s writing, or his Twitter account, will be familiar with his affection for Springsteen’s classic story of freedom and adventure. 

While the song was written in 1975, the line captures nicely the tale of the 2015 Western Bulldogs.

“At the end of 2014 we needed people willing to lead by example, willing to lead behind the scenes, but also to be the club’s public face,” Senior Coach Luke Beveridge remarked at season’s end in his Sutton Medal address.

“People willing to strike new and onerous balances in their lives.  We needed people who we respect and people we believe… we found a captain in Bob Murphy.”   

One year ago today Murphy put his arms around the club he loves and asked that they have faith. They did, and what a ride it was.

Under the circumstances, what Murphy did in 2015 will go down as one of the great seasons by an individual player in the history of the Club.

At 32 years age and with 271 games under this belt at Round 1, the new skipper averaged 22 disposals and four marks off of the half back line, and all at an impressive 80 per cent disposal efficiency; the highest of any player who averaged over 22 disposals per game.

Alongside Easton Wood and the evergreen Matthew Boyd, Murphy would lead a defence that was ranked sixth for points against in 2015, up from fourteenth in 2014.

The skipper’s year would be capped off by placing second in the Sutton Medal, and being named as the All-Australian captain, a remarkable feat in his 15^th season of senior football.

But more importantly, his beloved Bulldogs would jump from fourteenth to sixth and the Club’s first finals berth since 2010. 

The 2015 season saw the arrival of a new coach and an exciting game-style at the Kennel, the breakout season of eventual Sutton Medallist Wood, the continued growth of young stars like Stringer, Bontempelli and Dahlhaus; the list goes on.  

But standing at the centre was one man, calm, inspiring, and Springsteen like in his eloquent description of a whirlwind period in Bulldog history.

"I have got to say every moment of this year has been quite magical,” he told Virgin AFL All-Australian Awards in September.

“A footy club that was bruised got its dignity back."