When at some time in the not too distant future, a Winnebago filled with the Murphy family head’s up the coast for a long overdue holiday, the retiring Bulldogs skipper will leave behind a family of a different kind.

Robert Murphy retired today after 18 seasons, more than 300 games, a couple of All-Australian honours and a whole list of intangibles that can’t be measured by statistics or superlatives.

Asked what he’ll miss most when he finally leaves his beloved Bulldog clan behind, he spoke in a fashion typical of Murphy, full of colourful descriptions that can bring seemingly ordinary events to life in swirl of technicolour and emotion.  

He spoke of the two minutes before a game. When that hum of anticipation, nerves and excitement builds to its peak as the 22 players run out into the glare to fight once again for their football club.  For us.

Because for Murphy, it’s about far more than the 22 players  It always has been. For him, it’s about being one of the ‘lucky ones’ who get to pull on the red, white and blue and represent the wider clan as he likes to call it.

“For me it’s always the two minutes before you run out to play,” he told his teammates yesterday afternoon in the theatrette at VU Whitten Oval.

“It’s in that fight or flight mode, it’s that deep sense of community and comradery but also a feeling of looking over the edge of the cliff and a sense of loneliness. 

“And that’s what I think of when I think of family, it’s when we go out to battle as part of that gang, where it’s the 22 players, but it’s the circles around it.

“It’s the people in this room, it’s the supporters outside the room, it’s all of our brothers and sisters, it’s our mum’s and dad’s, that’s the family and the 22 players that are the lucky ones who get to run out and go to war with the colours on.”

Murphy isn’t the greatest player to pull on the Bulldogs jumper, although his genuine brilliance as a footballer seems to have gradually been overshadowed by everything else that comes with being ‘Bob.’

But in that quote is possibly the answer as to why he may be the most beloved Bulldog of all.

It’s his knack in making all of us feel like we’re a part of something bigger, a part of a family, knowing that the 22 who do run out each week will fight tooth and nail for us, for the jumper and for our clan.

Murphy could have just two games left in his illustrious career, or maybe he’s got a few more than that as the Club points it’s nose toward the finals. But if it all ends against the Hawks in Round 23, it’s the privilege of being one of the lucky ones to represent the faithful is what he’ll miss the most.

“I’m so excited that I get to do that at least a couple more times,” he said.

“I hope it’s for a few more but I know that’s the stuff that I’ll miss.”

And we’ll miss him. 

Thanks Bob, we’ve been the lucky ones.