Fast-growing Sun is food for thought
MEET the second-year Sun who goes by the name ‘Specimen’ inside the four walls of Gold Coast’s base.
Patrick Murtagh is the 196cm rookie who has been growing so rapidly that the football department has requested his time in the gym be cut in half.
The 21-year-old former Queensland decathlon champion is only into his third year of playing Australian rules
but he is literally overshadowing many of his teammates already with his 106kg frame.
“The other first and second-year players have got gym four times a week, I just have it twice,” Murtagh said.
“They told me to reduce it two weeks ago. I have been told that my athleticism, size, speed and endurance is where it needs to be so I just need to concentrate on my footy.
“I’m just hassling the coaches so I can get a lot of my craft skills better.
“I’m so new to the sport and all the other guys have been playing their whole lives so it’s just about adjusting and learning every day.”
Murtagh put on 10kg of muscle mass in the off-season while managing to keep his body fat at just 11 per cent.
The Southport School graduate doesn’t need to look far for inspiration.
Murtagh put everything on hold to chase a chance in the AFL, including the Bachelor of Health Sciences degree
he was studying and two jobs he had, one an Auskick role that helped him improve his handballing and kicking the same way it was helping the juniors he was coaching.
It means he had to rely on parents Michael and Vala for 12 months before being drafted at the end of 2019, no mean feat considering how much Murtagh eats.
“I’m lucky because Mum is from Papua New Guinea so I have been gifted with a good metabolism,” Murtagh said.
“I am cautious with what I eat but when someone has a snack they eat a banana and muesli bar, my snack is two steak sandwiches and chips.
“Mum sent me to get $20 of groceries the other day and I came out with $180 worth. What I eat in a day is like what people eat in a week.”
So what exactly does the ‘Specimen’ consume to build the physique frame he has.
Here is what Murtagh eats on a standard day off on the weekend (inset).