He’s an exceptional kick on both sides of his body, but according to data compiled by Champion Data, Robert Murphy is number one in the game when it comes to kicking with his opposite foot.

Murphy had a kick rating of +7.7% when using his left boot, almost a full percentage rating ahead of his closest rival, Melbourne’s Heritier Lumumba.

By comparing Expected Hit Rates, calculated by measuring the pressure on the kicker from opposition and in which part of the ground the player is kicking the ball, the Champion Data team have derived a system in which they measure just how ‘good’ of a kick a player really is.

And how good is Murphy? In short, he’s one of the best in the business.

These statistics perhaps only confirm what Bulldog fans instinctively know: when the ball is in the skipper’s hands it regularly ends up where he intends it to go.

Unsurprisingly, Murphy also ranks highly when using his dominant foot, the 34 year old’s rating of +7.3% ranking him fourth among players who kicked the ball at least 100 times during the course of the season.

Overall, Murphy trails only North Melbourne’s Brent Harvey in measured kicking ability among players who have kicked the ball over 500 times between the years 2010 and 2015, and the gap is minimal: +7.6% vs. +7.4%.

While the Club itself ranked fifth overall for defensive 50 chains that resulted in an inside 50 in 2015, up from twelfth position the previous season, a lot of the credit must go to Murphy’s ability to consistently hit targets across half back.  

In fact the veteran defender ranked seventh in the League for scoring chains launched from the defensive 50. 

While the story of Murphy’s 2015 season has been well told, less attention has been paid to his statistical output, and in short, it was outstanding. 

He rated elite (top 10% in his position) for kicks, disposals, uncontested possessions, inside 50s and score involvements, and gained the fourth most metres per game of any general defender in the competition.

Not bad for a player going into his 17^th season of AFL football.  

Football Data Source: 2016 AFL Prospectus, Champion Data.