How gentle giant Brodie Grundy became a ruthless competitor

Brodie Grundy is a nice guy and deep thinker off the field but the Collingwood ruckman has developed a mean streak that has made him arguably the game’s most valuable player.

Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy has taken his footy to another level. Picture: Getty Images

Not for the first time, Bill Davoren was “in awe” of Brodie Grundy.

Collingwood’s moped-riding physiotherapy student and deep-thinking graffiti artist often took up his customary spot on Davoren’s couch long after all of his teammates had left, to pick the fitness guru’s brains about building his strength and running power.

But for all the couch chats about different methods and recovery techniques, there was one day in the pool when Grundy blew Davoren away.

TOP TRADE: MAGPIES FIND DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

MONEYBALL: SHIEL TRADE HAS GIANTS SITTING PRETTY

The Pies former fitness boss had planned a hypoxic session where the players had to dive to the bottom of the pool, lift up a heavy weight plate and walk with it as far as their lungs would allow.

It was one of those cross-training sessions, Davoren recalled, which players don’t necessarily love. But Grundy, unsurprisingly, relished it.

“Some players hate that type of thing to be honest, but it’s about building their tank and their work ethic,” Davoren said.

“Hardening them up a bit.

“And most guys probably don’t move the plates very far, but Brodie was a machine that day. I remember quite vividly he was going as hard as he could, over and again.

“He was so driven about it. And whereas a lot of the guys were probably happy the session was over, not long after that I came back into the club another day and saw him doing it again, this time on his own.

“That sums him up, how invested he is.

“I think for a lot of young players, it takes a while for the lights to come on. But right from the word go, Brodie was an absolute pro.”

When he first arrived at Collingwood, Grundy had played only a few seasons of footy for Sturt after making the late switch from basketball.

The No.18 draft pick, who also overcame a niggly back problem early on, admittedly had some ground to make up.

Brodie Grundy is not only a superstar ruckman, but one of the best players in the game. Picture: Getty Images

But in his rise to become a superstar ruckman, and arguably the game’s most valuable player, Grundy has developed a reputation over the past seven years, according to captain Scott Pendlebury, as the Magpies’ most dedicated trainer.

“He works as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen at the club,” Pendlebury said.

With his 203cm powerhouse frame, the South Australian is doing some things rarely seen from a big man in the modern era, combining some brutal follow-up work at ground level, with an improved contested marking ability.

This season, the 25-year-old averages 13.5 contested possessions a game, the most by a ruckman since statistics were recorded in 1999, according to Champion Data.

And that’s despite missing a good chunk of the pre-season because new teammate Jordan Roughead trod on his foot.

“He is in absolutely rare form,” Collingwood great Mick McGuane said.

“His repeated follow up work at stoppages is incredible and his hands have become softer.

“I would hate to think what Grundy’s (high) GPS numbers would be like now.”

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE SUPERFOOTY PODCAST

While GPS figures are not available outside AFL clubs, it is believed a player of his aerobic capacity would cover about 13km a game.

Collingwood culture and leadership manager Nick Maxwell, who captained the Pies to the 2010 premiership, said Grundy had become a better player than he was last year, when he won All-Australian honours and the joint best and fairest.

“The follow-up (at ground level) that he does I think is something you haven’t really seen before,” Maxwell said.

“I think the one thing he didn’t have as much of, which he has brought this year, is the real pack contested marking.

“He’s really added that part of it, the contested marking, and just getting down-the-line and being able to put on a spoil, in a pack of five or six players, and punch it 25m over the line, which is perhaps something he didn’t have initially in his career.”

Brodie Grundy loves exploring Melbourne's street art. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Grundy thanked Maxwell in his best and fairest speech at the end of last season, for helping Grundy find “the prick” he required.

“I remember I was in my second year and you (Maxwell) spoke to me and you said, ‘I if I wanted to be the player that I wanted to become that I had to find the prick, as you called it, or something that was going to motivate me’,” Grundy said.

“And over the last few years, the thing that was going to motivate me was to be a premiership ruckman for the Collingwood Football Club.”

And, he has said recently, a Hall-of-Fame ruckman.

For Maxwell, Grundy’s development also included an increased physical edge.

“You can be the nice guy, and the deep-thinker off the field, but on the field you need to go to a different level,” he said.

“You need to have some sort of combative element in your game, and I think particularly with ruckmen because it’s basically you versus them the whole day.

“You’ve got to have that tough, ruthless, aggressive competitor in you, and he’s definitely found that.”

And he moves around the ground like a 100kg midfielder.

His skills have improved out of sight since he was a raw teen, said former SA under-18 coach.

“At under-16 level he would have struggled to hit his left foot at all,” Phillips said.

“Now I watch him come out of the contest and hit teammates on his left and I just think, ‘Wow, this kid has come a long way’.”

Brodie Grundy lays a crunching tackle on Geelong’s Tim Kelly. Picture: Michael Klein

But there is so much more than footy to Grundy Inc.

There’s his passion to his Health Science degree, his taste for travel and culture, and interest in design, particularly graffiti art. He is intelligent, and compassionate.

“Brodie hasn’t changed since he was drafted,” said his manager Robbie D’Orazio.

“Being the No.1 ruckman at Collingwood holds huge responsibility and probably opens up a few doors, but he has never exploited those.

“He has stayed true to himself and it’s a credit to him and his family.

“He has really worked hard for everything.”

Grundy, in part, credited coach Nathan Buckley for helping encourage him to become a “holistic person”.

And when Adelaide tries to lure him home next year with a blockbuster $1.2 million a year offer, you’d suspect it’s Grundy’s relationship with his coach that could sway him to stay.

“I love talking life and footy with you, mate,” Grundy said.

“I think we’ve learned a lot of from each other. I love playing for you and I look forward to bringing success to this great organisation in the years to come.”

Grundy has a close relationship with coach Nathan Buckley. Picture: Michael Klein

Maxwell said Grundy, like all Collingwood players, was encouraged to express himself and his individual talents.

“He’s not going to fall in to any category of ‘this is how you have to be, or what you have to be like’,” Maxwell said.

“He’s going to be himself, and that’s great, because that’s what the club has done so well, encouraging the players to be themselves.

“But the one thing you wouldn’t want people to think that football isn’t the highest priority for him.

“Because the amount of work he puts in, the hours he does in the gym, and all the time he spends watching tapes and watching vision, he’s often there well after everyone else is gone.”