Dees skipper Max Gawn prepares to renew ruck rivalry with former teammate Brodie Grundy

Although Brodie Grundy’s stint as the Dees did not pan out, Melbourne skipper Max Gawn says he will find plenty of use in it as he prepares to battle his former partner in the Opening Round.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 24: Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn of the Demons pose for a photo during the 2023 AFL match simulation between the St Kilda Saints and the Melbourne Demons at RSEA Park on February 24, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Max Gawn says he wishes former teammate Brodie Grundy was still at Melbourne but will be prepared to use their season together as research ahead of the pair’s opening round clash.

Grundy was traded to Sydney in October after being shut-out of Melbourne’s finals campaign as Simon Goodwin preferred Josh Schache over the million-dollar recruit in the cut-throat semi-final.

Now the AFL has handed the Demons and Swans a mouth-watering season-opener next Thursday that will put All Australians Grundy and Gawn against each other at the first bounce.

Gawn told this masthead he had believed in the pair’s ruck tandem but was sure his former teammate would see the clash as a chance to prove a point.

Grundy will face his former side in his first game with the Swans. Photo by Phil Hillyard

With back-up Tom Fullarton struck down with a serious hamstring injury Gawn is fully prepared to play high game time, starting with that SCG centre bounce.

“I am Team Brodie. I think he’s a great player, a great person. I was quite bullish on how it was going. We just got struck down when the team was a bit out of form and the rest is history. But I am excited for him. I remember our first centre bounce, we went through a centre bounce vision tape of us at training and I was taken aback by how cool it was to review each other’s tape. Now it comes in handy. I am looking forward to it.

“There is a match within a match. No one at home will watch the battle past the first centre bounce but I make it a bit of a battle and so will Brodie.

“He will think there is a point to prove but there is not. Everyone knows he played some really good football last year. What he did was incredibly selfless to play a lot more forward and you just know he’s going to come out and have a great year.”

Six time All Australian Gawn has split ruck time with Luke Jackson and then Grundy for the past three seasons and yet at 32 will be called on again to run out full games in the ruck.

“Nank (Toby Nankervis) has been doing it forever as a crash and bash ruckman. Reilly O’Brien has been doing it for almost the longest out of all of us at Adelaide.

So there are some guys who can do it and I am hoping I can stand up. I get it’s a good story because I am a bit older and haven’t done it for three or four years but other guys have done it.”

Gawn is once again the focal point of the Dees ruck brigade. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Fullarton’s injury is horribly timed and yet if the Demons can filter Shane McAdam (calf) or Harrison Petty (toe) back into the side Gawn says Jacob Van Rooyen can continue to play a back-up ruck role.

He says he is ready to step up again in his second year of senior football.

“He is as ready as he can be for a 21 year old. You look at key forwards around the comp, they take longer. Nick Larkey looks like a bone fide star but he’s been going for a bit longer.

“It will take a while to get him to Larkey stage but he can certainly play his role and I think he will still ruck a fair bit. He is quite good in the ruck and hopefully he gets some help.

“Hopefully Harry Petty can get himself right, and Ben Brown (knee) can get himself right.

“Shane McAdam comes in, Josh Scache, Tom Fullarton and there is some help around him.

At times we will need him to lift and I think he can this year.”

Originally published as Dees skipper Max Gawn prepares to renew ruck rivalry with former teammate Brodie Grundy