Murphy, 26, said the Dogs' recent record of five wins from their past six games at Geelong's home ground will come into consideration come Saturday.
"We wouldn't go down there if we didn't think they were beatable," he said, on Wednesday.
"We've had a bit of success [at Skilled Stadium] over a few years ago, and I know they're totally different sides.
"It's only an hour down the track so it's not too far."
Murphy said the fact the Dogs haven't played the Cats since round 16 last year won't cause too many problems when it comes to planning this week.
"It makes the form a little bit hard to read, I suppose," he said.
"Apart from last year, they've been pretty good games. They were going as well as they could go last year and we were on the other side of the mountain."
Murphy said this weekend's marquee game is "exactly what the side needed", after a round when it didn't play its best football one week out of the mid-season break.
"It's a pretty long season and some weeks you bounce out of the blocks, and we didn't on the weekend," he said.
"We will definitely have to lift that [intensity] on Saturday.
"It's exciting to be involved in a game that everyone is interested in . . . It's why I play, to play in big games and finals.
"It's been a long time coming to play in a game this big, so we're looking forward to it."
He said the fact that Cameron Ling and Gary Ablett are set to be missing from the Cats' line-up will not alter the team's approach going into the game.
"We've got [Shaun] Higgins and [Scott] West out," he said.
"They're obviously two really good players but most weeks there's usually one or two out, so I don't think that will change the way we play too much.
"You just play who's lining up on the weekend. You could ask them the same question and they might have a different answer."
