Brodie Grundy is ready to sign at Collingwood as soon as the club offers him a seven-year deal
Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy is ready to do a deal with the Magpies. But as far as he is concerned, it is seven years or bust. Where does that leave negotiations heading into 2020?
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Star Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy says he is ready to pledge his future to Collingwood if he can secure a blockbuster seven-year deal.
It comes as Grundy’s manager Robbie D’Orazio admitted rival AFL clubs are already making inquiries in the man widely considered to be the best ruckman in the league.
Grundy, 25, is a free agent at the end of next season and recently said he is considering moving back to South Australia to be closer to his family.
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While Collingwood initially offered him a three-year deal, Grundy said on Tuesday he was prepared to sign with the Magpies right now if the club upped its offer to seven years to secure his long-term playing future.
The Magpies have only been prepared to look at a three-year deal to this stage.
Asked if he was happy to do the deal now, Grundy said at the TAB Spring Carnival launch: “Yeah, absolutely, I don’t know if you have spoken to my manager Robbie D’Orazio, but the phone is always on.”
“Obviously, Collingwood gave me an opportunity to play AFL football and I love the club and where I am at, and personally what I give to the team.
“So if something was to eventuate … (that would be good). It’s not like it is a closed shop.
“I am an open book and I am pretty transparent and I have been pretty transparent all the way through.
“The conversation is there … if they would like it.”
Grundy made it clear he was keen to stay with the Magpies if they can overcome the current sticking point about the tenure of his new deal.
“I feel really comfortable at the football club,” he said. “It is something which is a negotiation … it is a negotiation for a reason.”
He said if a deal can’t be struck over the summer months, he was prepared to deal with the media attention that will come on him and the club heading into the last year of his term.
The All-Australian ruckman said he watched last Saturday’s Grand Final between Richmond and Greater Western Sydney with mixed feelings, knowing how close Collingwood came to taking on the Tigers.
The Magpies lost narrowly to GWS in the preliminary final,
“I just went away to the coast and tuned in like any other fan,” he said. “It was obviously disappointing to finish the way we did.
“It’s not so raw now. I have moved on from it. (But) it probably affected me a bit more than the (2018) Grand Final loss.”
Much was made of Grundy’s dominance in the preliminary final loss — as he had more than 70 hitouts — while the Magpies midfielders lost the clearances, which is an issue the ruckman said must be addressed.
“We haven’t reviewed it as a team, but the stats say that I won the hitouts pretty convincingly but we couldn’t convert that into our favour,” he said.
“I have got a big role to play in that. I have got to take ownership of that as well and (we need to) build on that midfield chemistry into 2020.
“I will continue to back myself. I am only 25, and I still think I have got a lot of scope left in my game.
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“I think I get a lot of the footy as a ruckman, (but) just an area of my game I need to improve on is probably my disposal efficiency and use under pressure.
“(I’ll) probably continue trying to try and take a few more marks and try and hit the scoreboard a bit more. Probably the midfielders would like a bit more bang for their buck. I get my hands on it a bit, but we probably need to take more of an advantage of that.”
Originally published as Brodie Grundy is ready to sign at Collingwood as soon as the club offers him a seven-year deal