MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 05: Robert Murphy of the Bulldogs looks on during the 2016 AFL Round 11 match between the Western Bulldogs and the West Coast Eagles at Etihad Stadium on June 5, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy is one of the most loved players across the competition, but that doesn't mean the 295-gamer is exempt from being sledged from time to time.
Speaking on SEN on Wednesday morning, Murphy revealed the five greatest sledges he's been on the receiving end of on the field, with renowned talker Stevie J only coming in at number two on the list.
The St Kilda captain was unhappy with a column Murphy wrote a couple of years ago, in which he selected a certain Hawthorn forward over Riewoldt in his best 22 players in the AFL article.
“Halfway through the second quarter we crossed paths and Nick turned to me and said, ‘And you, I’m right off you,’ and he had real passion in his voice,” Murphy said.
“He said, ‘How I didn’t make that 22 is beyond me.’
“As he ran away I just heard under his breath ‘Jack f-ing Gunston’.”
While Koschitzke “was not renowned as the sharpest thinker or the sharpest with his tongue" according to Murphy, he did come up with this pearler when the two sides met one day.
“At one point we were standing next to each other and he was mouthing off to a younger player about goalscoring and I said, ‘Kosi, mate, you should be the last bloke who is giving a bit of lip.
“He just turned and said, ‘Murph, you’ve got a head the size of a Mintie.
“A minute later the ball got kicked out and I heard over my shoulder, ‘Someone get Mintie’. That’s the essence of a good sledge, it can be quite distracting.”
Murphy was unaware that Hogan actually said this during the game, but it was so good he just had to include it in the countdown.
“The TV cameras picked it up and the public let me know about this one.
“Jesse was having a set shot and I said something to do with him being the great white hope, really highbrow stuff to try to put him off his kick.
“Of course he put it straight through and he ran right past me and said, ‘There’s your great white hope’ (pointing to million-dollar recruit Tom Boyd). Unfortunately, Tom wasn’t going so well and he was being subbed off at the time.”
One of the best talkers in the modern game, Johnson just had to make this list, and it was one sledge that required a bit of research from Johnson.
“At one point walked around boundary line and hid behind the point post. He walked up to me afterwards and said, ‘Did you see me sneak on?’. I said, ‘Well, clearly not’ and he just looked at me with a wink and said, ‘It was quite rascallish, wasn’t it?” - the sledge was aimed at Murphy due to his rascal of the week segment on AFL360.
Hudson spent four seasons at the Dogs between 2008-2011, and Murphy believes he was the greatest of them all.
“Ben Hudson was the greatest sledger I ever played with,” Murphy said.
“We played Richmond one night and Ben was prolific, he was constant and pretty harsh, and he picked on some young Richmond kid, who shall remain nameless ... about being ugly, basically.
“He just kept at him and at him and within earshot of me and the umpire Huddo said, ‘Mate you’re so ugly, you’re almost as ugly as Murph’.
“The Richmond player looked at me, I looked at him, the umpire looked at both of us and we all started laughing, it was a bit of a fiasco.”