Sydney Swans ruckman Brodie Grundy spoke to the media today, ahead of Sydney's clash with Fremantle on Sunday afternoon.
He was asked about his great form, the challenge of Fremantle and the SCG turf.
On his good form
"It's probably been a focus on just my process, to be honest. I know that sounds quite generalised and I won't bore people with the details of it but just acknowledgement of what makes me the player I am and continuing to reinforce that and put an emphasis on that during the week and during the game. I'm not projecting or looking past each week, to be honest, I'm taking it a week at a time, to be honest, and trying to execute my role to a high standard, if that culminates in whatever that will be, I'm just measuring my success on executing my role for the team. I think I've been playing a consistent round of football and I think that's all any player really wants is consistency. Whether I've had the highs of previous years, I think is questionable, I think what I am focussing on, what I am measuring my output on is a really strong consistency and I think that's something that I've been able to do the last five weeks."
On whether he watches other rucks in the competition
"Yeah, I'm a very competitive person, so I'm always a bit silly if you've been in the competition as long as I have and you're not looking at what other players are doing and that forms part of best practise in terms of preparing to play elite football is looking at what your match-up is week by week and looking to exploit that as much as you can or match it. I've got a massive task this week and the team does this week personally and team-wide around the Dockers this week (5:10) so really trying to narrow our focus on that preparation and that's a big part of it, is that mental tactical preparation is what I feel has been a really solid part of my game this year."
On the SCG turf
"Yeah, I mean, as a player, I've got full faith in the club and the SCG, the AFL. I think they're working really collaboratively at the moment and throughout this week to make sure it's right. Look, it wasn't ideal, but as a player, I'm not really thinking about that. I'm just thinking about the contest at hand. I think it's something, probably looking back, there's little moments where people are slipping over and whatnot, but that's going to happen when it's dewy and Friday night footy, but I thought the contest generally from the game was a real spectacle that I thought fans got to enjoy and as a player, I certainly enjoyed playing in that game."
On Tom Papley and Errol Gulden returning to the side
"Yeah, I mean Errol is obviously a couple of All-Australian jackets, but he's obviously, don't need to talk about the quality of player he is but just I think what I've noticed having him around the midfield and just our ball use, helping us off half-back, he just runs so hard so he's obviously been a welcomed inclusion and Tom Papley's energy in the forward half whether that's on the ball, off the ball, lifting the fans, lifting his teammates, he's a real fire starter for us and yeah, we're a much better side when they're in it."
On Errol returning in great form
"I mean that's a credit to Errol and the professional that he is, I was talking earlier around preparation, elite preparation whether that's mental, physical, emotional, Errol taps into all parts of those domains of high performance and I was not surprised that he's returned in the condition that he has."
On Fremantle's dual ruck set up
"I wish I was going on ball when I was at Melbourne with Gawney, that would have been nice but they make it work exceptionally well for their side and Luke Jackson's a special player, been able to play pretty much anywhere and Darcy, he's an elite quality ruckman as well. I think the proof's in the pudding for their side, they've been able to contribute really strongly I thought they played really well last week and yeah, work will be cut out for me this week."
On how the team is feeling
"There's a reality to where we sit right now and you've got to be frank about that. Having said that, there's tremendous opportunity for us and we've got a lot of belief internally about what our best football looks like as do many teams but it's about being ultra-consistent and we're going to need to do that for the back end of the year."
On Dean Cox
"He's been amazing and even John Longmire since I came over has been a big part of encouraging me to play to my strengths and giving me trust. I think that's probably been a real catalyst for me and giving me that autonomy to shape that role and I've had a great mentor in Dean who's had five or six All Australians. He likes to let us know about that and he's a great mentor and a great friend."
