Sydney Swans ruckman Brodie Grundy has reflected on his season at the Demons and is looking forward to reinventing himself with his fresh opportunity in red and white.
Facing his former side in Opening Night of the 2024 season, Grundy is looking forward to kicking off the season in Sydney.
"It's flattering, isn't it? I'd only been there for a year but that's great," Grundy said of the excitement around the 'grudge match' that will begin the 2024 season.
"Football is theatre, and we need to try and entertain people and talk about using that to grow the game here in Sydney.
"I see that as a responsibility for me and for all players and a big part of that is creating those narratives and drawing people in here as storytelling is a great part of footy."
The Opening Round is already one of the biggest storylines of the 2024 season, with the initiative designed to draw in a larger audience from the northern states ahead of the traditional round one match between Richmond and Carlton the following Thursday.
The match shapes as both a crucial test for the League and Sydney, which took one of the most aggressive recruitment strategies into the post-season trade period and came away with Grundy as a key replacement for retiring ruck Tom Hickey.
"It will be cool to compete against Max [Gawn]," Grundy said.
"At Melbourne there was a six-time All Australian there and that's really cool and I learnt lots but you talk about opportunity, here it's a hand-in-glove opportunity here and I'm feeling really valued and supported to bring my best for this side.
"My commitment is always to try and reinvent myself and to get better and a big part of that commitment is coming to this side and seeking a fresh opportunity and continuing to grow as a player."
His first home match on the SCG is an opportunity to test his 2-3 per cent theory, where Grundy feels he can elevate the team's performance around stoppages by small margins all around the ground – rather than reshape the squad itself.
"I'm not putting pressure on myself to come in and reshape things but can I come in and add two or three per cent here or a different perspective there," he said.
"These guys are incredible athletes and they've all got strengths that will continue to flourish and I'm looking forward to complementing them where I can."
Grundy is also hopeful the smaller sized home ground will highlight a Swans' improvements around stoppages.
"Hopefully that results in lots of stoppages and invites me to come into the game," he said.
"The opportunity here at Sydney is just hand-in-glove. I'm feeling really valued and supported to bring my best for this side. There are some strengths that I have that I feel like I can bring and complement some of these younger players on the inside.
"Just because I come to Sydney I'm not going to be a perfect, finished product, my commitment is always going to be continuing to try and get better.
"A big part of that commitment is coming to this side, seeking a fresh opportunity and continuing to grow as a player."
The Swans open the show for the 2024 AFL season on Opening Night at the SCG on Thursday, March 7, in a game that will mark the club’s 150th birthday celebration in Sydney. For best access to this unmissable match make sure you’ve renewed your membership.
