TALL TIMBER TO RENEW RIVALRY
IN many ways Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy unwittingly played a key role in former Magpie Jarrod Witts signing with the Gold Coast Suns this year.
Grundy’s 2016 form was so good that he took over from Witts as Collingwood’s No.1 ruck choice, forcing the now key Suns tall man into spending much of the year in the VFL.
As it has tuned out, the off-season trading has worked both ways – Witts has been excellent for the Suns and Grundy has continued his development into one of the AFL’s very best with the Magpies.
Now the scene is set for a showdown between the former teammates when the Suns host Collingwood at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.
“I don’t know if it was solely because of my form or anything like that, but Jarrod obviously sought a football and a lifestyle change,” a diplomatic Grundy said.
“And that is paying off for him. He has had an opportunity and has taken it in both hand – it has been really good to see him have a good crack.
“Obviously last year Jarrod played the majority of the time in the VFL. I think what we’ve been able to see this year is the quality of player he is.
“He is obviously too good to be playing VFL.”
Similarly to Grundy’s emergence pushing him back to second-choice at Collingwood, Witts has kept last year’s top ruckman Tom Nicholls in the background at Metricon Stadium.
Grundy played down any suggestions he has something to prove when he tackles Witts for the first time in competition mode.
He debunked a theory that he is playing better without any pressure coming from Witts.
“I don’t seek my motivation from external sources, so whether Jarrod was at the football club or not had no bearing on the way I motivate myself on my performance,” Grundy said.
“I can’t draw a correlation with him being at the club or not.
“For me I’m still young, still trying to balance an understanding on what it takes to be a professional and have that consistency at AFL level.
“This year I’ve been fluctuating. I’ve had some good games and had some average games but what I have been able to do is to be able to decrease that gap between my good games and my rubbish games, to be honest.
“When I don’t play well I’m still sort of doing OK instead of just being an extra number out there and not doing anything.”