How a change of Hart helped turn Brodie Grundy from promising basketballer to star footballer
IT was the sliding doors moment that might have turned Collingwood star Brodie Grundy from promising basketballer into star footballer.
Andrew Capel
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IT was the sliding doors moment that might have turned Croweater Brodie Grundy from promising basketballer into star footballer.
When then South Australian under-16 football coach and former Crow Darel Hart started walking down the stairs of South Adelaide’s Noarlunga Oval grandstand following a State trial in 2009, he didn’t have Grundy in his 25-man squad to contest the national championships in Sydney.
By the time he had reached the bottom, he did.
“I often laugh about that now,’’ said Hart, an SA Football Hall of Famer who won two premierships with North Adelaide and played 39 games for the Crows in 1991-92.
“Me and my assistant Chris Smelt had finalised our squad during the last quarter and Brodie, who was very raw and only playing about his seventh game of football (he had played in grade three and for Sturt’s under-16s), wasn’t in it. At the bottom of the stairs he was.
“His skills weren't great because he was a basketballer who hadn’t played much footy but for a ruckman he was super-competitive, which I loved.
“And we took into account the fact that our (State) team would be playing three games in six days and that having a giant ruckman in our team on the final day when everyone is tired might work to our advantage.’’
Grundy not only played for SA, he starred.
The Sturt ruckman was so good he earned selection in the AIS-AFL Academy squad and put a promising basketball future — he had represented SA at under-16 level and was keen to pursue a US college, and possibly NBA, career — on the backburner to pursue his football.
After consecutive SA and All-Australian under-18 selections he was drafted by Collingwood at pick 18 in 2012.
This year the 203cm, 102kg powerhouse has become the hottest ruckman in the game, with dual Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd declaring that after three rounds he has no peers.
“Nic Naitanui (West Coast) and Max Gawn (Melbourne) remain the two best tap ruckmen in the competition, but in terms of overall ruck package, Grundy has elevated himself to become the most valuable ruckman so far this season,’’ Judd wrote in his Melbourne newspaper column.
“The combination of his ability to win possessions and use the ball around the ground, his tap work, tackle pressure and clearance-winning ability make him the most complete ruck package since Eagles great Dean Cox.’’
In an impressive body of work, Grundy, whose ranking points have steadily climbed during his six-year AFL career, is this season averaging more points than any other ruckman, with 129.
He ranks first among ruckmen in contested possessions (11.3), second in clearances (5.3), fourth in disposals (19) and goals (0.7) and sixth in hit-outs-to-advantage win percentage (17.4) and score involvements (5.3).
The battle between Grundy, who turns 24 on Sunday, and star Adelaide ruckman Sam Jacobs will have a big bearing on Friday night's Crows-Magpies blockbuster at Adelaide Oval.
Hart says he is not surprised by Grundy’s rise to stardom.
“Obviously when we first saw him he was very raw but with ruckmen, there are two types — those who get after the ball or those who wait for it to come to them because of their height,’’ Hart told The Advertiser.
“Brodie would just go after it. As a young player his skills weren’t ready but his competitiveness was.
“He had a tremendous work ethic and the more work you gave him the more he lapped it up.
“He’s a different type of lad (best described as a free spirit) but he listened to every single thing that was said to him by his coaches and deserves everything he has got because of his work ethic.
“You watch him now and he just goes and goes and goes.’’
andrew.capel@news.com.au
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