Murphy & Son, taking on the world with a brilliant bond

When NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder Connor Murphy soared at the Stade de France at last year’s Paris Games, he became the first Australian triple jumper to compete in an Olympic final since his father, and coach, Andrew – who won a world indoor championships bronze medal – took centre stage at Sydney 2000.

While there are some poor examples of parents who were terrible as the coaches of their own children, the Murphy boys explain how they have made the relationship work, as well as competing in what is arguably the most stressful event in sport.

NSWIS: How do you look back on the Paris Olympics, and what did it mean for you to emulate your father in not only becoming an Olympian but becoming a finalist who finished in 12^th place 

Connor Murphy (CM):  Being able to do that was really nice, then doing well lived up to my expectations. It’s quite motivating for the future to have made the final and gain that experience.

NSWIS: Andrew, as his coach, how did you view Connor’s performance in the Olympic final?

Andrew Murphy (AM): I thought it was outstanding. I’m not saying that as a dad, I’m actually saying that as a coach. It’s very difficult to go to an Olympic Games and produce your best – the odds are well against it. So, when you can go to an Olympic Games – the biggest benchmark competition of your life – and do, pretty much a PB, that’s outstanding. I was never able to do that in my life, I did a PB at a world championship, but never at the Olympics. So, he’s already beaten me.

NSWIS: As a dad, what did it mean to see your boy do that?

AM: You always want the best for your kids. I always want the best for my athletes, I try to coach as if my athletes are my kids, I want the bets for them. What Connor achieved was outstanding. [I was] super impressed, super relieved. All the things that go into coaching, you try to get it right. We know it’s not an exact science; there’s a lot of factors that go into performance. This is a big one with physicality, peaking and getting it right and it’s nice to see it come together.

NSWIS: At what point did you decide you would coach Connor? And did you set yourself any ground rules where you wouldn’t allow what happened on the track to affect life at home?

AM: I don’t know if there was ever a defining moment. I just wanted my kids to have a holistic grounding in sport, and obviously academics. We sacrificed a lot. [My wife and I] have five kids and four went through Trinity Grammar School which is no mean feat because sending your kids to a private school is expensive.  So, we made some big sacrifices for our kids and while it has paid off, we wanted them to have the best exposure. [Connor and I] have a great relationship. I think I’m easy going, even though I may say things that I may think ‘Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.’ I have been the hardest on Connor [being the oldest of my children] and it has probably been diluted with the other children as we’ve gone along.

NSWIS: Connor, what has been the best thing about having your dad as coach?

CM: I can trust he’ll always do the absolute maximum for me. I’ll never have any doubts as an athlete that my coach isn’t putti ng in every single thing he can for me. I see the amount of time on the track and off the track that he puts into me.

NSWIS: And the hardest thing?

CM: The expectation, as well as when you go home from training you sometimes want to relax and not think about athletics or sport . . .  have a life . . .  but [dad] comes back and he’s obsessed. And I’ll be like ‘I want to watch TV!’ Moving out of home has mitigated that, so there’s no longer that issue.

NSWIS: Your dad does value truth in coaching; he’ll say things as they are. Would it have sometimes been easier for you to cop criticism or have a tough talk with someone other than your father?

CM: Maybe. Maybe it would’ve been a bit more soft, but coming from dad makes it more motivating. I am someone who definitely feeds off sh** talk, because I’ll go ‘OK, I’ll prove you wrong.’

NSWIS: And Connor, you grew up in a family which had the motto ‘Dream it, believe it, set your goals and you can achieve it.’ How important was that positivity in shaping you?

CM: Growing up Dad always told us ‘whatever you want to do – and I don’t care what you want to do but hopefully it’s something good – you can reach high levels if you believe you can do it, do all of the right things and under the right guidance.’  And dad had proven that because he was successful at athletics. I don’t think I was a talented kid; I was decent but I was tall, uncoordinated and a bit awkward. But I thought to myself if I keep going, maybe I can get better. When I was 17, I didn’t think I was good enough to make the Olympics but dad was always like ‘trust me, when you’re 18, 19 and a bit bigger you’ll be fine.’ 

NSWIS: Andrew, triple jump is quite brutal on the body. I’ve read where because Connor weighs 80kgs there’ll be a millisecond during the jump where he’ll have 22 times   the force of his body which would then mean for those few milliseconds his bodyweight is 1.7 tons! What does that do to the body and how do triple jumpers push through that?

AM: [Triple jump] is arguably the most stressful event in sport. Impact forces are up to 15-20 times bodyweight. It’s not hard to do the maths – one and a half ton going through your body, thank goodness it’s only for a split second but, nevertheless, if you get the technique wrong it is a real problem. One of the big things was to get Connor as conditioned as possible, being 6 foot six and pretty skinny has been an advantage, but also a disadvantage. It means his growing period has been very carefully planned. He has pretty, much had a strength and conditioning program to a degree through his childhood and adulthood and that has made a big difference. We’ve certainly had injuries – one of the big things with tall people is hamstring injuries, and similar to Usain Bolt, Connor had hamstring problems as a junior.   A lot of work and effort goes into strengthening that big body of his. His is different to my body, I feel small at home because I have four boys and I am well and truly the shortest!

NSWIS: Andrew, you’ve mentioned the amount of work that is going into Connor, how has NSWIS helped?

AM:  We are super lucky to have such a great team. As good a coach as I would like to be, I’m only as good as the people around me. The biomechanical support we’ve had, Emma Millett in particular over the last few years, has been outstanding. We couldn’t have achieved what we have without her. The data collection and the technical analysis is imperative. It’s the whole team that is making the difference and to put it into perspective I had one athlete that I coached [who went to] the Tokyo Olympics, and that was Rohan Browning, but I had five athletes make Paris. That shows the difference in the three years I’ve been working with NSWIS.  We have ‘biomech’ support, physiotherapy, deep massage, sports psych, dietician and S&C. Our team is brilliant because of everyone in those positions, so we’re very lucky. 

NSWIS: Andrew, something a lot of coaches and managers find difficult is to speak frankly . . . truthfully. What is it about you that drives you to just tell it as it is?

AM: My coach, Keith Connor. I loved Keith for the simple reason you always got the truth. A lot of people didn’t like it, but that was important to me. As a mature athlete I came to Keith as a 25-year-old. I moved to Sydney, and a lot of times I had coaches who patted me on the back, but it wasn’t well done. I hadn’t performed, I hadn’t made an Olympics before I came to Keith and I was 25. Under Keith I made three Olympics aged 26, 30 and 34, hence my motto ‘dream it, believe it, set your goals and you can achieve it.’ But [through Keith] what’s stayed with me is having the facts and being totally honest and asking: are we really where we need to be? Where are our deficits? Where are our gaps? Let’s not lie, let’s just get the facts. I’m a very science driven coach, it’s an area I’m very passionate about.  It’s not about ‘oh, you’ll be right mate’ it is ‘let’s get down to it, find out where we need to go’ because it is a short career you don’t want to get it wrong.

Daniel Lane, NSWIS