Nathan Buckley confident Brodie Grundy will be ready for physical test from Adelaide
KFC SuperCoaches with Max Gawn on the pine will be hoping for Brodie Grundy to go large against a lacklustre Adelaide side. But the Crows could hit Grundy with the same tactics that quelled the Melbourne star.
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Nathan Buckley says he will back in star ruckman Brodie Grundy to endure Adelaide’s targeting after vision emerged of the Crows physically targeting Max Gawn in the loss to the Demons.
Grundy has returned to his brilliant best in the last fortnight but KFC SuperCoach players, many with Gawn sitting on the pine due to injury, may have to temper their expectations — despite Grundy’s match-up against the lowly Crows.
Gawn will miss Sunday’s clash against North Melbourne as he battles a sore shoulder and a knee issue.
He might have missed the clash anyway, but the vision of the midweek clash showed Walker and No. 16 draft pick Ned McHenry continually buffeting and bumping Gawn.
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It means the Demons have brought in Tom McDonald to share the ruck with No. 3 draft pick Luke Jackson and potentially wingman Adam Tomlinson.
McHenry often ignored the football to run 20 metres away from the contest to bash into Gawn.
It seemed an orchestrated campaign given how often McHenry went at Gawn, who stood up to play a key role in the victory.
Gawn managed a solid KFC SuperCoach score of 108 against the Crows but was down on his usual output, winning 11 disposals and 29 hit-outs.
“He gets a lot of attention, Max,” Goodwin said after the victory.
“And we continually speak to the various powers to be about the attention he gets.
“He gets clearly targeted around just getting to a stoppage and hopefully we will start to get some protection at some stage. It happens every week, he’s a target for most teams.
Buckley said ahead of Tuesday’s clash against the Crows that he didn’t have worries over the potential treatment of Grundy.
“Potentially but Brodes cops it every week so it’s not something we are concerned about,” Buckley said.
“The physical game and the challenge is something Brodie has always risen to so we have got no fears in that regard.”
Grundy has posted scores of 147 and 118 in recent weeks, hitting form after recording his first sub-100 score for the season against the Eagles in Round 8.
The Magpies star also has a strong record against the Crows in his favour, amassing 141 and 123 in their last two enconters, and averaging 108 points per game overall.
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