By Emily Woods and Cassandra Morgan in Melbourne

The man accused of murdering missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy has been revealed as the son of a former Geelong AFL player.

Patrick Orren Stephenson faced Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday, where a magistrate approved his lawyer’s application to temporarily suppress his name from media reporting.

The order was lifted on Friday morning, after his lawyer withdrew the application.

Stephenson is the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, who played 15 games for Geelong and Richmond between 2012 and 2014.

The 22-year-old is accused of killing Ms Murphy at Mount Clear in Ballarat, on February 4, the day that the mother of three went missing after going jogging.

Ballarat Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz on Thursday granted a defence lawyer’s application for a temporary suppression order on the 22-year-old’s name, date of birth and address.

That was despite several media outlets standing up in court to object.

The magistrate cited Stephenson’s entitlement to a “fair trial”, and noted the case had high media and community interest.

“It will continue to be a high profile mater,” Ms Mykytowycz told the court on Thursday.

The suppression hearing was not due to return to court until April, but Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan intervened and brought it forward to Friday.

Stephenson was brought into the Ballarat court for the hearing on Friday and was silent as he sat in the dock.

Defence lawyer David Tamanika withdrew his original application to keep Stephenson’s details secret.

“As the current media storm has now become inclusive of the family of the accused … the defence’s intention to assist has only become far more destructive, my client has instructed me to withdraw the application,” he said.

He accused the media of using the case as a “yard stick for procedural impropriety” in its reporting of the suppression.

Stephenson will next return to court for a committal mention on August 8.

Ms Murphy, described as a physically and mentally strong woman and a devoted mother, left her home at Ballarat East to go jogging and has not been seen since.

Her body is yet to be found.

Police are not looking for anyone else at this stage in connection to the alleged murder.

Ms Murphy’s husband Michael on Thursday told of his relief from the development, describing the past few weeks as “s***house” while telling of how the community had rallied around his family.

Anyone who has information, including CCTV or dash-cam footage from the time Ms Murphy went missing, has been asked to come forward.

Weeks of extensive searching began around Ballarat after Ms Murphy disappeared, with trained emergency services workers joined by hundreds of concerned locals.

They combed dense bush, private land and walking tracks.

Ms Murphy’s disappearance was out of character as she had been described as mentally and physically fit, and was training for an upcoming race by doing 15km runs.

A vigil will be held in Ballarat on Friday evening near Ms Murphy’s home.