When Marc Murphy leads them out on Friday night, father John won’t be far from his innermost thoughts.

For in competing in game No.154 for the Blues - ironically against Hawthorn for whom his grandfather Leo Murphy once played - “Murph” brings up the collective games tally of 400 senior appearances involving him and the old man.

Marc will also be wearing a black armband to honor the memory of the game’s first player taken under the father/son rule, the late Carlton rover Harvey Dunn. He’ll go about his business as Harvey’s wife Jill, sister Gwen, sons Andrew and Neale, daughter Melissa and grandson Fletcher all watch on from the stands.

Marc knows that Murphy, J - a regular presence in the Carlton rooms post-match – will also be casting a judicious eye, for football and the family name go hand in glove.

As he said when asked to best describe his father – “He’s a hard man. He’s pretty competitive and maybe I get some of that from him. I always want to do well”.

While Marc has Leo’s games tally of 132 covered and he’s steadily reining in John’s 246 games for Fitzroy, South Melbourne and North Melbourne, the Carlton captain knows it’s not about the numbers.

“The only thing Dad’s ever really said about his career is that he didn’t get the opportunity to play in finals,” Marc said after training at Visy Park this week. “He only played in one final, so he’s always told me to make the most of the opportunity and don’t have any regrets when you finish up because it happens pretty quick.

“It only seems like yesterday that I played my first game here. I’ve played 150 now, I’ve been around the club for eight years so I understand the importance of making the most of it.”

Father John, when contacted about the impending Murphy family milestone, raised the eyebrow based on his own career tally of 246.

John Murphy during his playing days at Fitzroy. (Photo: Supplied)

“My record says 246 but I remember running through a banner at North for my 250^th game,” John said. “In the early 70s, if you represented the state on the same day as your club game they’d count them in your club games tally, but ten years later they didn’t.”

Though Marc opted not to exercise his option to join the Brisbane Lions under the father/son rule and was instead taken with Carlton’s priority selection (No.1 overall) in 2005, he remains a strong advocate of the law of which Harvey Dunn first took advantage more than 60 years ago.

As he said: “It’s great to see sons of past players coming through and playing for the same side – Fletcher at Essendon, Scarlett at Geelong and maybe another Silvagni here soon”.

Marc never saw Leo Murphy play, nor John for that matter. But he can’t help thinking that history repeats.

“I know that Dad had a great relationship with Leo and when Dad had to make the choice of going to Hawthorn or Fitzroy, Leo left it to Dad to make his own choice just as Dad did with me,” Murphy said.

Asked to reflect on his own decision to join Fitzroy, John reponded “there were a few dollars floating around then”.

“For memory you used to get 20 bucks a game, Fitzroy offered me two year’s salary and Hawthorn offered me the No.16 my old man wore,” John said.

“I told Dad, he asked me where I felt more comfortable and I said ‘Í feel more comfortable at Fitzroy’. He said to me ‘Well, 400 dollars will buy a lot of Hawthorn jumpers with No.16 on the back – go where you want to go’.

“The decision not to play at Hawthorn would have broken his heart in some ways - although he’d never let you know that - but he’d be happy now because he was a Carlton supporter all his life . . . and he’d now be looking down from somewhere saying ‘I never got to play for Carlton but at least my grandson has’.”

In having to make his own career decision, Marc said that John “never pushed me in any direction”.

“He said ‘If you’re happy to go to Brisbane I’ll support you in doing that, but if you’re happy to go to Carlton I’ll support you that way,” Marc said.

John and Marc Murphy in the Carlton rooms after a match. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

“Whichever way I went there was always going to be the pressure of being the No.1 pick, and the only reason I stayed here in Melbourne was to be able to join a great club like Carlton which at the time was down . . . and that was a great opportunity to try and help the club to get back up where they’ve been.”

As Marc has made his mark at Carlton, John has watched on with great admiration.

“He (Marc) has done exceptionally well and from what I can gather he seems to be well-respected around the place,” John said. “I don’t think he’s got a big head, he’s pretty down to earth, but he is confident in his own ability.

“He gives the appearance that he’s easygoing, but he’s got a deep desire to be successful. He’s probably a lot like me in some ways, but not quite as grumpy.”

Marc Murphy
Date of birth: July 19, 1987
Original team: Oakleigh Chargers
Draft history: 2005 NAB AFL Draft priority selection (No.1 overall)
Height/Weight: 180 cm / 80 kg
Number: 3
Playing career: 153 games, 128 goals Carlton 2006 –
Career highlights: Larke Medal 2005; AFLPA Best First Year Player Award 2006; AFL Rising Star nominee 2006; All-Australian Team 2011; AFLCA Champion Player of the Year 2011; John Nicholls Medal 2011; The Age Player of the Year 2011; Carlton Captain 2013

John Murphy
Date of birth: November 20, 1949
Original team: Heidelberg
Height/Weight: 183 cm / 83 kg
Playing career; 214 games, 326 goals Fitzroy, 1967-’77; 23 games, 40 goals South Melbourne, 1978-’79; 9 games, 8 goals North Melbourne 1979-’80; Total games/goals: 246/374
Career highlights: Fitzroy captain 1973-’77; Fitzroy best and fairest 1968, ’70, ’71, ’73, ’77
Fitzroy leading goalkicker 1971, ’76; South Melbourne best and fairest 1978; South Melbourne leading goalkicker 1978; Victorian representative 9 times; Fitzroy Team of the Century centreman 2006