New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

[Bornadog]

Bob Murphy has never been a typical footballer. Music buff, Age columnist and Winnebago driver, he is as comfortable in a Fitzroy café or the front bar of a grungy pub as he is in the locker room.

In this unique memoir, Murphy takes the reader inside his seventeen-year career, including his three years as captain of the Bulldogs, exploring the people, places and events that shaped him.

From playing backyard cricket in 1980s Warragul to Community Cup with Paul Kelly in the 2000s, and from the joy of marrying his high school crush to the agony of a season-ending ACL rupture: the man described as the spirit of the Bulldogs has soul, and it’s made of leather.


How did the country kid with a gypsy’s heart become an All-Australian captain? What’s it like to have your club reach the Grand Final for the first time in sixty-two years, and have to cheer from the sidelines? How does it feel to realise you can no longer do the things that made you great?


The great Australian football bard Martin Flanagan has long insisted Bob Murphy has a book in him like no footballer has written. Leather Soul proves him right.

About the author


Bob Murphy played for the Western Bulldogs from 2000 to 2017 and was their captain from 2015 to 2017. In 2015 Murphy was named captain of the year at the AFLPA awards and was also captain of the all Australian team, the first player ever to …


Release date: 30 Jul 2018
RRP: $39.99
Imprint: Nero
Format: Hardback

Pre-order here

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

Its a boom time for Bulldog Books!

[Twodogs]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

Its a boom time for Bulldog Books!

I hung out and hung out for the release of Unleashed but now there are more books about the footy club than you could poke a stick at.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

Its a glorious time to be a bulldog literary guru

Not to long a go I read Brad Johnsons book, Im ready for Bobs

[Murphy'sLore]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

I have a feeling Bob's book might be a cut above Brad's! (No disrespect to Johnno)

[jazzadogs]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

Didn't Bob have a book called Murphy's Lore a few years back? Or was that just his columns from The Age?

[Bornadog]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

Didn't Bob have a book called Murphy's Lore a few years back? Or was that just his columns from The Age?

Refer avatar in post above.

Yes the book was a collection of his Age columns.

[Bornadog]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

Pre-Order here

[Bornadog]

Re: New Book - Leather Soul: A Half-back Flanker’s Rhythm and Blues by Bob Murphy

Book Signing :

Western Bulldogs fans can be the first to get their hands on a physical copy of Bob Murphy’s upcoming brand-new book, Leather Soul.

The former Bulldogs captain is set to release his second book, following the success of Murphy’s Lore, which was published in 2015.


Murphy will appear at VU Whitten Oval from 9am-9.45am on Saturday, July 28, where fans can purchase Leather Soul from the Bulldogs Shop ($39.99) and have it signed by the man himself.


In his unique memoir, Murphy takes the reader inside his seventeen-year career, including his three


years as captain of the Bulldogs, exploring the people, places and events that shaped him.


From playing backyard cricket in 1980s Warragul to Community Cup with Paul Kelly in the 2000s, and from the joy of marrying his high school crush to the agony of a season-ending ACL rupture: the man described as the spirit of the Bulldogs has soul, and it’s made of leather.


How did the country kid with a gypsy’s heart become an All-Australian captain? What’s it like to have your club reach the Grand Final for the first time in sixty-two years, and have to cheer from the sidelines? How does it feel to realise you can no longer do the things that made you great


Published by Black Inc Books, Leather Soul is also available via the Bulldogs’ online shop from Friday, July 20 (please note; due to delivery times, copies purchased online are unlikely to arrive before Murphy’s book signing day on July 28).