Garry Murphy was born in Wagga Wagga NSW and educated at Wagga High School, having great interest and success in the sporting area. He excelled in athletics and swimming. Garry was a keen footballer, completing in Australian Championships in Melbourne. All his early football was played for the now famed Turvey Park Football Club and later with Geelong in VFL.He spent 16 years as a livestock salesman and Auctioneer with Stock and Station in major rural centers such as Shepparton, Sale, Swan Hill, Dandenong, Stawell and Newmarket. He has strong connections in Gippsland having married into a family in Sale.