“We really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you, Brodie
But it takes so long, my Brodie”
(a play on the lyrics of My Sweet Lord, by George Harrison)
I did a pilgrimage to the SCG for Round One, just to see if the Swans’ new toys would make a difference. What I witnessed that night made me realise how George Harrison felt when he first met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Watching Brodie Grundy dominating on that balmy, very humid March night was an epiphany. The mere presence of Brodie in the red and white early season meant the Swans’ chances of success for season 2024 went from ‘let’s see’ to ‘a reality’.
As with all hero worship of a godlike figure, there comes a time when followers are asked to swallow the kool-aid. For the Swans faithful, the realisation that Brodie Grundy was a mere mortal, like all ruckmen who have come before him, had them sipping the kool-aid just after the Swans midseason bye.
Brodie was a mere mortal, and he was not the second coming of the messiah. The kool-aid had never tasted so bitter for Swans supporters as it did in the depths of the latter months of winter.
Oh, our Kingdom for a Big Man in September.
It is now clear now that Brodie is not the Sydney Maharishi, rather he is just a good honest footballer.
While the daze of Brodie Grundy Superstar ended in early July, it should well and truly be noted that Brodie brought hope, real hope, to the Swans in the first half of the season, and his impact on the Swans team securing a very safe place on top of the ladder midyear cannot be underrated. For a while, Brodie was the Maharishi incarnate, including being a certainty for All-Australian, but then came the bye.
While I acknowledge most Swans supporters have now recovered from drinking the kool-aid, Brodie Grundy is still a central figure for the Swans as they enter September, but not in a way most think.
Big Men are vital in September, just think Clark Keating, Jason Ball, Dean Cox, Brendan Lade, Ben McEvoy, Toby Nankervis, Max Gawn, Cameron Darcy, even unconventional Big Men like Tom Hawkins, Dean Brogan and Mike Pike, they are all worth their weight in Premiership Cups and Grand Final folklore. Big Men don’t have to be the best player in September, but they must have a presence and the ability to bring other players into the game.
So, Let’s Talk Brodie Grundy and September
I was surprised that John ‘Horse’ Longmire did not rest Brodie Grundy in the last round of the season, but never question a genius. Having reviewed the Round 24 game carefully I think Horse tinkered with the Swans ruck setup, and all is not what it seems.
Over the last few rounds of the season, Grundy has taken very few marks, however, he has still had a real presence in the ruck, so he certainly has a role to play at centre bounces. Having said that, Horse is a wily old codger, and he has prepared Hayden McLean, under the learnings of Brodie Grundy, to be the around the ground big man for the Swans.
While the Swans’ form fluctuated between absolute rubbish to shite in the latter stages of the season, there are two players can hold their heads high; the diminutive defender Matt Roberts and big Hayden McLean. Check the stats since Round 18, McLean has consistently taken six marks or more per game, with most of his marks being up the ground and contested. McLean has a huge tank, and it is no surprise he is now playing his best football coming into September.
Let’s not forget, Cameron Darcy learned his craft from big Brodie, and from I have seen in the last six rounds of the season, Hayden McLean is on a similar career trajectory as Cameron Darcy under Grundy’s tutelage. Like Darcy, McLean can clunk six or seven big marks every week, and he is a very accurate kick at goal. There is a massive upside to McLean in September, without diminishing the importance of Grundy to the overall balance of the team.
Having seen Grundy play in the red and white early in the season, my first thought was this guy would be a bloody ripper in September, and I still think believe he can be.
Sadly, for Brodie Grundy, he was not part of the Pies team in the 2018 decider and come the end of the 2022 season it was clear Darcy Cameron was the preferred option and Grundy packed his bags and ski-pants for the Dees in 2023. It is history now that the Pies won the flag in 2023, while Max Gawn made it very clear in season 2023 there was only room for one big man at the Dees. Thus, Grundy ended up in Sin City this year.
After a few years of being an AFL transient, Grundy owes himself a huge September.
Let’s digress for a few paragraphs.
Sydney has an abundance of Big Men, or do they?
About four weeks ago, a true living legend of the old VFL, who was a champion Premiership player and a reasonable coach, whispered in my ear the Swans can’t win the flag with Joel Amartey, Logan McDonald and Hayden McLean in the same forward line. When a man with his status within the game makes a categorical statement, only a fool would not listen.
Not surprisingly, about the same time as I was bowing to a great and taking in his wisdom, Horse started to move the magnets around a bit, especially regarding Hayden McLean and Logan McDonald.
The first noticeable move Horse made was to rotate McDonald between the forward line and the back line. At first, it looked like big Logan struggled down back, but after a few games, McDonald started to prove he could be the big swingman the Swans could rely on in September. In defence, McDonald slowly started to hold his own, and when he went forward again, he looked rejuvenated.
What is interesting, is McDonald’s overall confidence, as well as his confidence in front of goal improved measurable over the last few rounds. It was like he went from a player on the fringe with potential to a bona-fide AFL player in the space of four weeks.
McDonald now becomes a very hard matchup for opposition coaches in September, as Horse will swing him back and forth, as well as occasionally giving him a small run in the ruck. McDonald has gone from being a very predictable player earlier in the season to a bit of a wildcard player in September.
This article has already said a lot about the role of McLean as the Swans head to September, but his forward craft should not be overlooked. For a big man, Mc Lean is very mobile, and he can run an opponent ragged, also McLean takes contested marks up forward, and when he is not marking the ball, he is bringing it to ground at the feet of the Swans onballers and smalls.
Like McDonald, McLean now becomes a hard player for opposition coaches to find a suitable matchup in September, as his role is no longer one dimensional. Given the Swans are playing the Giants in the first week of the finals, does Adam Kingsley sacrifice a defensive runner to run with McLean, and who plays on McDonald?
As the form of Grundy waned in the latter part of the season, Horse has ensured there is ample support around him, and by that, I mean teaching McLean and McDonald to be very malleable players able to rotate through a variety of positions, performing a number of big man roles around the ground.
This September is the time for Hayden McLean and Logan McDonald to step out of the shadows and take charge of their own careers.
The player I fear for most in the Swans current list of players available for September action is Joel Amartey. Since kicking nine goals against the Crows just after the bye, Amartey has struggled.
In Round 24, Joel dropped a few easy marks which should be his bread and butter. One bad game does make a career, but he has been off the boil for a few weeks now. While the form of other players has improved significantly in the last three rounds after the disaster of the Dogs and Power losses, Amartey is one of the few players still floundering.
Amartey has done enough overall this year to ensure he is selected in the starting 23 for the Qualifying Final, but while a dropped mark or three is not highlighted in a Round 24 dead rubber, under the glare of the September bright lights, such mistakes are highlighted, and then some.
Apart from a few runs in the ruck, Horse has not experimented with the role of Amartey in the latter part of the season, which I find that interesting.
Horse does have another big man wildcard up his sleeve, and I don’t mean Ladhams.
Sydney’s September wildcard in the big man department is Aaron Francis. Aaron Francis, I hear you say? Really? Isn’t this the same bloke you call Aaron ‘Bloody’ Francis? Well, yes it is, but I watched him closely in Round 24 and the longer the game went the better he got, and the more his confidence grew. Further, Horse is showing faith in him late in the season, and while he will most likely be dropped for the Qualifying Final, my gut says he has a role to play in September.
Anyway, back to the onetime Maharishi, Brodie Grundy
John Longmire has moved a lot of pieces around the chess board since Round 18 to prime the Swans ready for September, including sharing the big man load so it is not reliant on just one Brodie. While Grundy needed a chop out in the middle in the latter part of the season, the timing was also right for Hayden McLean and Logan McDonald to expand their repertoire and assume more responsibility within the Swans team structure.
Unlike previous years in his career, Brodie Grundy is the main big man heading into this September for the Swans, and while his form has been down a bit, instead of replacing him, Horse Longmire has developed and expanded the roles of other players to compliment him.
Call it a gut feeling, but Brodie Grundy owes it to himself to have a big September, and while he may not reach ‘guru’ status, if he can have a presence and play a September role similar to Ben McEnvoy, Toby Nankervis or Darcy Cameron, then that will do just fine. If, heaven forbid, Brodie has a Max Gawn-like September, then he will be, dare I say it, the Maharishi Brodie Grundy – I will even learn to play sitar in homage (just to annoy the shit out of my neighbours).
Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams and James Jordon have all been fantastic recruits who have brought a point of difference to the Swans game plan, and all three have been integral to the Swans winning the Minor Premiership.
Apologies to the supporters of other clubs who have read this far as this is the most biased Sydney orientated piece of writing I have completed for The Mongrel Punt.
I’ve spent the whole year being objective in my reviews, to the point after the Round 15 win had over the Giants, I was accused of being Anti-Swans as I critiqued them so hard, so it is nice to write a piece subjective to my beloved South Melbourne Football Club, aka, the Sydney Swans.
