In his first interview since being traded to Sydney, Brodie Grundy has opened up on his much publicised departure from Melbourne.
BRODIE GRUNDY ON HIS DEPARTURE FROM MELBOURNE:
“Playing VFL, it’s pretty sobering when you get dropped,” Grundy said when asked if he’d lost any of his love for game in the lead up to the trade, speaking on the Rush Hour with JB & Billy with Daisy Thomas filling in for James Brayshaw.
“It’s tought, and there’s that identity piece as well y’know.
“A big part of what we do is our jobs, and we get a lot of satisfaction out of that, and when that isn’t where we want it to be, it’s hard to reconcile.
“For me, sort of getting towards the end of my career, or closer towards the end, I wanted to able to maximise my time playing AFL footy.”
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Grundy said he honestly there was no moment of clarity where he decided that he simply could no longer play for Melbourne, and that he made sure to keep his behaviour above board at all times.
“Honestly I didn’t have that thought… I speak about the whole industry as a whole sort of evolving, and I think it takes two,” he said.
“The players have got to buy in as well, and the way I’ve tried to conduct myself is just to be as professional as I can be.
“I’m, at the time, employed by Melbourne Football Club to come in, to train, to challenge Max (Gawn) at training, to try and play on Steven May and Jake Lever in the forward line.
Grundy said he maintained perspective and did what was asked of him by Melbourne in good faith at all times.
“You’ve got to try and see the light in those opportunities,” he said.
“It’s a matter of perspective and framing, and I thought y’know, I’m not too old to throw in the towel.
“I actually did really want to give it a go and see if I could come in and play finals and kick some goals… but it wasn’t to be.”
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Grundy said that the trade played out as mutually and transparently as possible, and he bears no ill will to anyone at Melbourne over the ill-fated move.
“We just had a mutual sort of conversation towards the end, and a lot of was going along in the background with my manager Robbie D’Orazio,” he said.
“I just sort of spoke to Goody transparently, and we were just having conversations all the way through.
“Hand on heart, I don’t have a bad word to say about Melbourne. I think the people there are fantastic, and for all it’s worth I actually really enjoyed my time there.
“Just my two hours on the weekend wasn’t where I wanted to be, and I’m here to play AFL footy, so that’s what led me to Sydney and I’m looking forward to really making it there.”
MORE ON MELBOURNE:
Grundy moved to Sydney for pick 46 and Sydney’s 2024 second rounder, after playing 17 games in a season where he was dropped to accomodate number 1 ruckman Gawn, and asked to work on his forward craft in the VFL.
He is joned by former Collingwood teammate Taylor Adams, who made the switch to the harbour city for pick 33.
Grundy also spoke about the end of his time at the Pies in the lengthy, introspective chat with Daisy Thomas and Billy Brownless, as well as letting us in on his further studies and letting us know what’s real and what’s not from what’s been written about him on the internet.
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