Who goes ?...Who comes in ?

[Captain]

Grundy has decent pace and plays with High Intensity
Not the same player I watch wearing 39 for us.
Im quicker than Reg and as for intense well @@@@ me.

I think Grundy has decent pace.

Not sure if he is playing in the right position though, have always liked him better as a forward.

If he is to make it as a defender, will take time to develop.

[Lohengrin]

Grundy has a nasty habit of placing his hands on his opponent's back. Gets pinged for it a bit under these stupid new rules.

[BSA5]

Ernie and 2005, while Grundy is certainly not quick by any standards, his lack of pace doesn't stand out as much as it did earlier in the season.

As for intensity, he is always willing to go body to body in aerial contests, I've never seen him shirk a contest at ground level, and he seems to have excellent awareness of what's going on around him. I've noticed a number of times when he has just put in clever tap ons (one stands out in particular, against Port I think, and the commentators mistook him for Mattner, needing about three replays to get it right, because it was so clever), handy shepherds, taking good options (not necessarily the first one) coming out of defence, that sort of thing.

On top of that, he takes one of the better marks in the team, and is one of the best kicks. His speed and agility are major drawbacks, but hey, ROK had the same problem. Now look at him.

[Wazza]

Grundy has worked himself up to a decent pace for a big man, and plays with high intensity. I have been extremely impressed with what I've seen of Grundy since he has returned to the side this year, and I was among those saying he would never make it early this year.

Have you watched any of Grundys game this year away from the bar??

[Nico]

Ernie and 2005, while Grundy is certainly not quick by any standards, his lack of pace doesn't stand out as much as it did earlier in the season.

As for intensity, he is always willing to go body to body in aerial contests, I've never seen him shirk a contest at ground level, and he seems to have excellent awareness of what's going on around him. I've noticed a number of times when he has just put in clever tap ons (one stands out in particular, against Port I think, and the commentators mistook him for Mattner, needing about three replays to get it right, because it was so clever), handy shepherds, taking good options (not necessarily the first one) coming out of defence, that sort of thing.

On top of that, he takes one of the better marks in the team, and is one of the best kicks. His speed and agility are major drawbacks, but hey, ROK had the same problem. Now look at him.

But he gets too easily nudged off the ball in one on one marking contests for a big man. Doesn't appear to have learned how to use his body yet. Also in these contests seems to be wrong sided regularly. He's not too bad when the ball hits the ground and has a reasonable anticipation on the ground.

Bit to go yet but I am not completely off him either.

[BSA5]

Have you watched any of Grundys game this year away from the bar??

All of them, actually. Have you watched any of his games this year without being influenced by preconceived notions based on his earlier form?

He's quicker. Still not quick, but not slow to the point of it being a liability any more. As Nico noted, he does get nudged off the ball a bit too easily, but it's not for lack of trying. The intensity is there, if not the experience or strength as yet. Definitely worth persevering with, though I strongly doubt he'll have any long term future as a defender. It will be either a key forward, or an O'Keefe style role (though it will be a fair few preseasons before he has that kind of endurance should he aim to play that sort of role), that he will find himself playing if he does stick around.

[liz]

As Nico noted, he does get nudged off the ball a bit too easily, but it's not for lack of trying.

I agree with you (and Nico) that as a defender he doesn't seem to have much of a clue about using his body and holding his position. Which is strange, because up forward he seems to have less of a problem. At reserves level he is very good at protecting the space where the ball is going to drop and taking the mark. I realise that the quality of defender he is playing on is very different, but again at reserves level in defence, he seems to show the same relative lack of marking confidence that he does at senior level. Maybe it's just a mental thing - the difference between making something happen and worrying about stopping something happen.

If Leo does return this week, I hope he gets thrown forward. If Collingwood allow the Swans to play a two or three man forward line tomorrow and don't flood the gaps I am sure Roos will be happy for that to eventuate given how well Hall and Goodes have worked in space last week (Hall) and the week before (Goodes). Which means there may not be a role as a key target for Grundy. But a roaming HFF role would surely suit him better than as a key defender. His field kicking has really improved this season and I'd like to see him delivering the ball in towards Hall, Goodes and Ves/Moore.

[Wazza]

I agree with you (and Nico) that as a defender he doesn't seem to have much of a clue about using his body and holding his position. Which is strange, because up forward he seems to have less of a problem. At reserves level he is very good at protecting the space where the ball is going to drop and taking the mark. I realise that the quality of defender he is playing on is very different, but again at reserves level in defence, he seems to show the same relative lack of marking confidence that he does at senior level. Maybe it's just a mental thing - the difference between making something happen and worrying about stopping something happen.

If Leo does return this week, I hope he gets thrown forward. If Collingwood allow the Swans to play a two or three man forward line tomorrow and don't flood the gaps I am sure Roos will be happy for that to eventuate given how well Hall and Goodes have worked in space last week (Hall) and the week before (Goodes). Which means there may not be a role as a key target for Grundy. But a roaming HFF role would surely suit him better than as a key defender. His field kicking has really improved this season and I'd like to see him delivering the ball in towards Hall, Goodes and Ves/Moore.

I keep coming back to this point with Grundy and Moore - we need pace I dont see Grundy giving us anything across HF (IMHO) we just dont have any pace in our FWD 50 apart from Ves. Grundy is not big enough to play a KP and not fast or agile enough to play as a HF. Grundy just doesnt seem to have the required intensity at the ball, maybe its a concentration thing?

Ill touch on Moore - again tonight showed signs of being a selfish player - he had a couple of chances to give but tried to take on tackles etc and was lucky to get a free kick on one of these occasions.

Cheers

waz

[Lohengrin]

Grundy is not big enough to play a KP

He's plenty big enough. He's the same size as Bradshaw or Lloyd or Fevola or Roughhead, and he's not much smaller than Mooney or Tredrea or Hall.

[Wazza]

He's plenty big enough. He's the same size as Bradshaw or Lloyd or Fevola or Roughhead, and he's not much smaller than Mooney or Tredrea or Hall.

He might be a similar height but he aint the same "size"

[Lohengrin]

He might be a similar height but he aint the same "size"

He's not much off, and he's only 22 and just needs some more work plus he's still learning as well.

[Donners]

A good build doesn't simply come with age. It's down to genetics, work rate, training methods and the like. There's no guarantee he'll ever be of the same size as those players, and certainly no timeline on when it could happen.