Joe Murphy was an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

Murphy was from Princes Hill originally and played for the Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

 thirds before arriving at Fitzroy. He played three games for Fitzroy in 1952, including a semi final, followed by eight appearances in the 1953 VFL season

1953 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1953.-Premiership season:In 1953, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man...

.

Having left Fitzroy, Murphy made his way to the Diamond Valley Football League

Diamond Valley Football League

The Northern Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Diamond Valley region of suburban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The league changed its name on 1 May 2007. The league was founded in 1922, originally having seven clubs, four of whom are still participating...

 (DVFL) in 1954 and joined Greensborough

Greensborough Football Club

Greensborough Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Greensborough, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League.-History:...

. He shared the league's Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...

 award that year with Doug King of Reservoir-Lakeside.

Murphy captain-coached Tasmanian North West Football Union

North West Football Union

The North West Football Union was an Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 to 1986. In its time it was one of the three main leagues in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Football League and Northern Tasmanian Football Association representing the rest of the state...

 club Latrobe

Latrobe Football Club

The Latrobe Football Club is an Australian rules football club which competed in the NWFU between 1910 and 1986. The club has been a playing member of the NTFL since 1987. Latrobe were one of the most successful NWFU clubs and their tally of 12 premierships in a joint record, shared with Burnie and...

 from 1955 until 1958 and was an interstate representative for the island at both the 1956 Perth

1956 Perth Carnival

The 1956 Perth Carnival was the 13th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It took place from 11 June to 23 June at Subiaco Oval, Perth....

 and 1958 Melbourne Carnival

1958 Melbourne Carnival

The 1958 Melbourne Carnival was the 14th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition...

s.

He resumed his DVFL career in 1959, back at Greensborough, who he captain-coached to the 1960 and 1961 premierships. In the latter of those seasons he was again voted the league's "Best and Fairest" player.