Murphy has been a key part of the 22-year-old’s rise, passing on the learnings from his own legendary career as a fast but emotional talent.
The four-time Bathurst 1000 winner said Wood was already “bouncing” back within hours of Sunday’s disappointment, in which a late-race failure cost him the JR Trophy.
“It’s something we worked on and talked a lot about after Bathurst and some other races last year,” Murphy explained to Speedcafe.
“It’s massively disappointing but I think he sees the bigger picture around it. The way he’s dealing with it is actually really positive and mature.”
Murphy conceded Sunday was probably the biggest blow yet, given an engine issue suffered while running second at Bathurst last year occurred with 22 laps still remaining and in unpredictable wet conditions.
There’s been a litany of other mechanical setbacks during Wood’s two-and-a-bit seasons as a Supercars Championship driver with Walkinshaw to date.
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The team’s introduction of the new Toyota Supra package this season was always likely to lead to more such heartache.
Murphy was part of the post-race meeting in Walkinshaw’s shipping container on Sunday that involved Wood, teammate Chaz Mostert and other team members.
“This is one moment. Yeah, it’s shit, but think about what the team has actually done in such a short period of time,” Murphy continued.
“You need to do that sometimes because this sport is the best of the best and it’s the shittiest of the shittiest.
“But we’re not the first ones. It’s gonna happen again. You’re not alone. You’re not unique. You’re not being picked on. It’s just the way the cookie goddamn crumbles.
“I say this from the learnings that I wish someone had actually thrust in my face plenty of times back in the day and put it in perspective.
“You lose the perspective, because you are in your bubble. You’re tied into you, but there’s a whole lot of other shit going on outside that and sometimes it works for you, sometimes it doesn’t.
“We’ve got so much more to achieve. So if you put your heads down, you’re not going to recover fast and you’re not going to move forward to the next one.”
Murphy praised Wood’s handling of the entire NZ double-header, during which he was under the spotlight like never before.
The period included a maiden pole and win for Toyota. as well as the announcement of a contract extension that will take Wood’s tenure at Walkinshaw beyond 2027.
Murphy added that the “learnings are enormous” for the whole team out of the weekend’s emotional rollercoaster.
“The big job is actually unravelling it all, actually pinpointing moments and just deciphering the trajectory, what was right, what was wrong, trying to fix it moving forward,” he said.
“That’s what everyone’s going to do. We just had something torn away at the end of it all. So we are unique in that situation, but other people have had other things that have also unravelled for them.
“You’ve just got to not feel sorry for yourself.”
Wood will be back in action next weekend at Queensland Raceway, making his TA2 debut in the 2 Days of Thunder event alongside Walkinshaw Academy driver Pip Casabene.
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