Justin Murphy (rugby league)

Justin Murphy is a Rugby League coach who is the head coach of Saint-Estève XIII Catalan in FFR Elite One Championship; previously coaching Toulon Métropole XIII in the Elite Two Championship,^[2] and a former professional rugby league footballer who played for France at international level and in the NRL and Super League competitions.

Justin Murphy

Personal information
Born	(1978-02-14) 14 February 1978 (age 47) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	12 st 6 lb (79 kg)
Position	Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1999–2000 Canterbury Bulldogs 1 1 0 0 4 2001–04 New Zealand Warriors 43 10 0 0 40 2004–04 Widnes Vikings 5 1 0 0 4 2004–05 UTC 26 38 0 0 2006–08 Catalans Dragons 66 54 0 0 216 Total 141 104 0 0 264 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007–08 France 6 2 0 0 8
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2010 Toowoomba Valleys 26 23 3 88 2011 Toowoomba Valleys 26 22 4 85 2020 Sporting Treiziste Toulonnais ELITE 2 16 2 14 13 2021 Saint-Estève XIII Catalan ELITE 1 20 14 8 70 2022–2024 Saint-Estève XIII Catalan U19 ELITE 42 40 2 95 2024 Saint-Estève XIII Catalan SUPER 13 43 28 14 65 Total 173 129 0 45 75
Source: [1]

Background

Murphy was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Grew up in Narrabri where he started playing Rugby League before going to board at St Johns College Woodlawn a renowned rugby league nursery. In year 9 he started at St Mary's College Toowoomba where he would finish his schooling.

Playing career

While with the Brisbane Broncos, he represented QLD and Australia U19s also playing for the Reserve team Past Brothers in the Queensland Cup.^[3]

Murphy played for the New Zealand Warriors on the wing in their 2002 NRL Grand Final loss to the Sydney Roosters.

Murphy joined the Catalans Dragons club at the end of 2004 when the club was in the national French competition. He quickly established himself as one of the better players, topping the try scoring charts and helping the club become the first French team to go through a season without defeat, winning the Coupe de France and the French championship where he was man of the match in the Final. It was his first full season in Super League that saw him shoot to prominence. He finished as Top try-scorer in 2006's Super League XI with 26 tries and also making the Super League "Dream Team" despite his team, the Catalans Dragons coming bottom of the table.

He was part of the French squad for the 2008 World Cup.^[4][5]

Following retirement, Murphy moved to Toowoomba.^[6]