Decathlon champ finding his feet on footy field
MEET the former Queensland champion decathlete who stands on the cusp of reaching the AFL just months after being plucked from the athletics track.
Patrick Murtagh is the 196cm raw talent and The Southport School graduate who turned heads in the NAB League. The 19-year-old kicked three goals for the Suns academy team after being brought into the squad following their opening win over the Northern Territory and helped them win the academy series.
Murtagh was unknown in footy circles until attending a state combine testing day in late February where he recorded the fourth highest standing vertical jump (81cm) of any player around the country.
His previous experience in football included just a handful of games for the Carrara Saints lower division side.
Murtagh’s rise follows a successful stint in athletics last year where he was crowned state champion decathlete before placing sixth at nationals.
Murtagh was unearthed by Gold Coast Victory Athletics Club coach Sharon Hannan.
“I was coaching at TSS and trying to fill the team for GPS when I found I needed more older boys,” Hannan said.
“I went back through all the inter-house carnival results and his name kept popping up with a first, second, third and fourths in multiple events.
“He started training with the club on December 18 (2017) and did his first decathlon at the start of January where he won his age group at the state championships. He went to nationals a couple of months later and placed sixth. He could have absolutely had a future in it if he stuck to it.”
As an over-age player, Murtagh will only have this year to impress enough to be listed by the Suns before graduating from the academy.