David Brehaut speaks with 2024 Ballarat Sports Hall of Fame inductee Ray Murphy (Australian Rules Football)
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00:00It's a great honour, yes. I've never had any expectation of that sort of thing since I retired from footy.
00:07When I finished playing footy, I thought, well, you've had your time.
00:13And I just often say to young blokes that were in my care,
00:19make the real best of it while you've got it, because sooner than later you'll be past tense.
00:25Look, you certainly did that in your playing career.
00:27Your contribution after you ended your playing career was just as big.
00:33Several administration roles across the board.
00:37Ballet Football League, Central Highlands, Victorian Country Football League.
00:41What was it that appealed to you about looking after the game, if you like?
00:46Well, probably a certain amount of the clubs encouraged me to take on the role of the Ballet Football League.
00:56So I finished up going on the board and then I finished up President of the League for a couple of years.
01:01And I always thoroughly enjoyed that.
01:05And I knew people like George King and those people, of course,
01:09and Bill Henderson and those blokes who I absolutely admired in my playing days.
01:14So it was just something I thought, well, I'll give a little bit back.
01:18And now you're able to sit back and you must get a lot of satisfaction to see
01:21where those competitions are now in the big picture.
01:26Oh, absolutely.
01:27Like the Central Highlands Football League, for example.
01:31If it probably wasn't for Sean McCarty and Robin Mildred and myself,
01:38I doubt we would have ever got off the ground.
01:40But it's developed into a wonderful league, you know.
01:44And I think it's a shot in the arm to put in around the Ballarat region itself.
01:49The Ballarat Football League, its football is great footy.
01:54I come and have a look at it every now and again.
01:56And it's really good footy.
01:59But their biggest problem is its patronage, or lack of it.
02:03So what's next in sport for Ray Murphy?
02:06Just happy to sit back and enjoy and watch what you can?
02:09At 89 years of age, yes.