In early November 2007, Murphy left Ireland and made the journey to Sydney, Australia to attempt a switch from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Murphy wrote a column in Carlow newspaper "The Nationalist", entitled "Down Under", about his time in Sydney. He made an impressive start in 2007. In March 2009, while playing for the Swans Reserves in the AFL Canberra league, Murphy badly injured his shoulder, requiring surgery, just weeks after being forced out of football by a foot injury.