AFL round 10: Sydney vs Carlton, Brodie Grundy on midfield battle

Sydney’s finals hopes are flickering and a loss to Carlton will only add to the pressure mounting on the club. Can the Swans get their season back on track? Brodie Grundy has no doubt.

Swans ruckman Brodie Grundy knows their clearance and contest work will be vital if they’re to have any chance of getting back in the winner’s circle on Friday night against Carlton.

The Swans will have plenty of motivation as they celebrate Marn Grook at the SCG, but the numbers suggest they’re in for a tough battle against a resurgent Blues outfit.

Dean Cox’s side is in the bottom three in the AFL for both first possessions at stoppages and centre clearances. It’s a crucial measure in modern footy with the 6-6-6 rule making momentum out of the middle so important to control.

Conversely, Carlton is the best team in the AFL at first possessions at stoppages in 2025, while they’re also in the top three for total clearances.

Sydney’s 3-6 start to the season has seen them become the subject of plenty of criticism, including former Saints forward Nick Riewoldt suggesting they had “lost their aura”. But there remains a belief internally at the club that their best is still more than competitive.

The Swans won the contested ball battle against Essendon but left their run far too late in the game. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

While the Blues will be without star ruckman Tom De Koning, Grundy believes that if they can find more consistency, both individually and as a team, the results could quickly turn in their favour.

“For us, it’s consistently executing your process, and that’s something that we’ve been, truthfully, inconsistent on,” Grundy said.

“We need to really sharpen that up. In terms of focusing on that as a team, we haven’t been looking externally on that. It’s coming back with Coxy leading the education as a team. It’s internal about how we turn things around.

“If you win contested ball by a fair margin, you give yourself every opportunity (to win). If the results aren’t coming and we feel like there’s something wrong with our process, that’s a whole other matter.

“But at this point in time, we feel like we’ve got the right game plan. We’ve got the right process. We just need to execute it for longer.”

The Swans are not only backing in their processes, but they’re also more than confident that Cox is the right man to lead them out of their form.

It’s clear in patches that they can compete with the best teams in the competition, including early in the season, where they were arguably the better team against ladder leaders and reigning premiers, Brisbane.

Swans captain Callum Mills is closing in on an AFL return and will play against Carlton in the VFL this Friday. Picture: Phil Hillyard

But with the pressure undoubtedly mounting on the first-year coach, Grundy admits he’s been impressed by the calm that he brings each day to the club. And even as the external noise continues to reverberate, it creates a sense of ease around the playing group.

“He’s been fantastic,” Grundy said. “I can’t speak highly enough of Dean.

“The tutelage I received under him last year was the best I’ve had in my career, I’m so thankful to be up here at the Swans.

“That dynamic for me personally has shifted as he’s taken on the senior role. But you wouldn’t know that we have been tested as much by the way he leads the club. He has a really selfless leadership philosophy around the club first, team second, self last, really.

“He’s continually putting the club first and looking for improvement. I think he brings a really nice, even keel to the week. Even if we lose or we win, he brings a measured approach, which I think the team’s enjoying.”

If the Swans can string a few wins together in the coming weeks, then they can put themselves in a position for a finals charge.

Callum Mills is set to make his footy return through the VFL on Friday afternoon, while other key players like Errol Gulden and Tom Papley have made strong strides in their rehabilitation.

Brodie Grundy in the Swans’ Marn Grook guernsey. Picture: Phil Hillyard

However, Sydney will have even more to play for against the Blues as they not only mark Sir Doug Nicholls Round, but also raise funds for the GO Foundation – an organisation set up by former Swans Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin to fund educational scholarships for First Nations’ students.

“Being Sir Doug Nicholls Round and the significance of Marn Grook being played at the SCG since 2002 … we’re definitely leaning into the next two weeks as a club,” Grundy said.

“From a Swans’ perspective, we’re so blessed with so many great legends that have paved the way for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players.

“Adam and Michael are pretty central figures at our club and founders of the GO Foundation. We had them come in this week. They’ve done 650 scholarships across 85 different schools, and this week, they’re trying to raise $250,000 for their scholarship program.

“It’s celebrating those people that are doing a really important job in terms of connecting more broadly the club, and to the community.”

Originally published as AFL round 10: Sydney vs Carlton, Brodie Grundy on midfield battle