Justin Murphy has followed in the footsteps of former teammate Matthew Allan by reaching agreement on a new one-year deal with the club. Murphy, 28, had an excellent first year for the Bombers and he is expected to poll well in tomorrow night's Crichton Medal count.

Murphy played 23 games for the Bombers in his first season with the club playing mainly in the midfield. He collected around 20 possessions per game, took 123 marks and kicked 24 goals. His best performance of the year came in Essendon’s Round 14 loss to the Kangaroos when he collected 27 possessions and kicked five goals.

""He along with Matthew Allan really added to the depth of our best 22 and that was very important in the wash up,"" Essendon assistant coach Robert Shaw said. ""Given how even the competition is and given the impact injuries had on us during the year, I think it is reasonable to suggest we would not have made the finals without Justin Murphy or Matthew Allan for that matter.""

""Murphy was tagged very heavily during the season and again during the finals and I thought he was one of our better players in September. Opposition sides paid him a lot of respect and I think that is a measure of the influence he had for us this year. It also took a lot of pressure off other players.""