‘Very special for me’: Murphy humbled by Hall of Fame honour

True to her humble form, Titans coach Karyn Murphy is fully focused on helping the Gold Coast bounce back against the Cowboys this weekend in Townsville.

But the female trailblazer has had a moment to reflect on her incredible Hall of Fame honour.

One of six inspirational women who were bestowed with the incredible acknowledgement on Thursday – the first females to receive such illustrious accolades – the former Queensland and Jillaroos skipper has been humbled by the praise as a highly-decorated player, administrator and now coach.

“I never thought in my time of playing - and we struggled to even play the game I guess - so to have the opportunity to have some recognition and be named in this, it’s certainly very special for me,” Murphy said.

“Particularly to look at the other girls who have been named at the same time with me, we all debuted together in 1998 so that’s extra special.

“26 years later, we’re all very close friends, so to be named with that group makes it even more special.”

It comes as no surprise to anyone one of the female game’s greatest playmakers has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Representing her state and country for over 15 years in an era which required them to pay their own way to play in Interstate and International matches; Murphy has been quite the trailblazer for the women’s game.

But it’s those who came before her that she really wants to acknowledge and thank.

“They talk like that, but there were a lot of girls who had already paved the way before me,” Murphy said.

“I came in during 1998, but they were there years before me, so I’m very thankful for those girls who did it tougher than myself.

“Even in my time, you hear the stories that we paid our own way, but for us it was so we could play the game.

“We didn’t care… as long as we could play.

“If you look back now, of course you go ‘wow, that was a tough ride’ but I wouldn’t take back any of those times or memories we had together.”

A win in the Titans’ first trip to Townsville will top off a special week for the Gold Coast mentor, who has put defence on top of her agenda following a disappointing 44-4 loss against the Broncos, re-focussing on their classic trademark that helped them to their maiden grand final last season.

“I’m expecting a big turnaround from us this week. It was very unlike us last week,” Murphy said.

“We pride ourselves on ‘junkyard dogs’ and being that gritty football team and they’ve been so good with that (since its inception). That was probably the most disappointing part (about the loss).

“We weren’t us, but it’s been a really good turnaround this week.

“They’ve responded really well, and we’ve had a quick turnaround. We’ve only had one full session this week together, but it’s probably the best training session we’ve had for a while, so I’m looking forward to this weekend’s game.”