All you need is love on Saturday.
It will be in abundance for Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy, who plays his 300th AFL game against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium.
Murphy is everyone’s favourite Bulldog of the current era.
The fans have gravitated to the one-club champion ever since he arrived as a scrawny youngster from Warragul in the 1999 AFL national draft.
He is what Brad Johnson, Chris Grant and Doug Hawkins were of eras past, a figure who transcends the football he plays.
Murphy is loyal to the club, dependable on the field and a true leader off it.
He is serious about his football, but doesn’t take himself too seriously.
Murphy has played most of his career off a half back flank, but in recent times has flirted with a role as a half forward and been used through the midfield on occasions during his glittering career.
He has a unique style of play.
His ability to rebound with speed out of the back half and deliver with precision has been his trademark.
As his experience has grown, so has his guile and he has become one of the toughest match-ups for defensive minded opposition small forwards.
Murphy has an incredible sidestep in traffic and that has allowed him to maintain his effectiveness into his 30s.
But the story of Murphy is not always found in kicks and handballs.
He has carved out a cult following as a newspaper columnist and is a well respected voice on a weekly segment on Fox Footy show AFL 360.
Murphy’s star has risen through adversity in the past 13 months.
The veteran missed a large chunk of football with a devastating knee injury sustained against Hawthorn early last season, but it says a lot about his character that he is held in an even higher esteem now.
Murphy never publicly showed self pity following his knee reconstruction last year.
Sure, inside he would have been hurting, it’s only natural when your career is put under threat by injury, but Murphy got on with the task of rehabilitating his knee and continuing his captaincy of the Bulldogs, even if it was away from the field.
From all reports, Murphy never stepped on the toes of caretaker captain Easton Wood, who led the Bulldogs out on AFL grand final day last year.
Murphy could not have been prouder to see his club salute for their second premiership when they beat the Sydney Swans on the biggest stage of all.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was happy to hand over his premiership medallion to Murphy in one of the greatest gestures ever made following a grand final.
Even though Murphy wasn’t on the MCG as a player on October 1 last year, he was still a massive part of it.
Images of Dale Morris chasing down Swans superstar Lance Franklin leading to Tom Boyd’s long range goal, the heroics of Liam Picken in the last quarter and Jason Johannisen going up to accept the Norm Smith Medal will live long in the memory, but so will those glorious moments in the post game when Murphy lifted up his tracksuit jacket to reveal a Western Bulldogs guernsey and was seen thumping his chest in pride to the fans.
The love for Murphy is real because it’s clear to all at the kennel that his love for the Bulldogs is everlasting.
Murphy’s 300th game is one the Bulldogs faithful should cherish.
