Players have come and gone but one thing has remained the same throughout the early stages of the Sydney Derby, according to veteran Heath Grundy.
“You've come to know that the Giants are always going to give you a tough and physical contest,” he said.
If there’s one person equipped with enough know-how on the how to’s of Sydney’s own cross-town clash, it’s ‘Reg’ Grundy. He, alongside teammates Josh Kennedy and Ted Richards, are the only Swans to have featured in every derby to date.
Giants co-captain Callan Ward is the only one from their end.
With Richards already ruled out, only three will have endured all 10 when the two sides do battle on Sunday.
Even with 14 teenagers, GWS gave its new-found foe everything in the very first instalment. That was in 2012. The Swans won by 63 points in front of 38,203 fans at ANZ Stadium.
It was labelled the ‘Battle of the Bridge’ then, distinguished coach Kevin Sheedy was in charge of the Giants, Spotless Stadium’s revamp had not yet been completed and they had a Wallaby running around for them.
A lot can change in four years.
Grundy had played 108 less games, Kennedy has gained two Bob Skilton Medals and two Brett Kirk medals, the Swans have gained a premiership in that time and now have a former Hawk by the name of Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin in the line-up.
But, as Grundy once more anticipates, that one common denominator will again pose a threat in Sydney Derby X.
“They’ve always been pretty hard at it,” he said of the Giants.
“It’s always held them in good stead. It was just a matter of them trying to get going as a team and getting used to playing with each other.
“But that was their foundation from the beginning.”
Kennedy reciprocates: “From the beginning GWS never wanted to be pushed around or wait their turn. You can sense that out on the ground in the way they play. Their attitude towards the contest and man is what’s made them such a good team so quickly.”
GWS is growing in stature. The Giants have come into almost everyone’s September calculations in recent times by taking bigger scalps on a consistent basis, the result of a number of important players growing into their roles and the addition of some experienced heads.
And they’ll only continue to get better which only builds the significance of the Sydney Derby.
Heath Grundy with that familiar spoil against GWS in 2013.
While Grundy has trouble remembering the first hitout (198 games will do that), Kennedy can recall everything from the hype during the week, to the game itself, the shape it’s taken since and everything in between.
“It was obviously pretty exciting because it was the first game of the year. There was a big build-up throughout the week with Sheeds (Sheedy) promoting the hell out of it, as did we,” Kennedy said.
They were an unknown quantity as well. How do you do your homework on a team which hasn’t played an AFL game before?
“We didn’t really know what to expect,” he conceded.
“We knew they were a young talented side but the general consensus was it would take them a good couple of years to get going. Nonetheless we knew it was still going to be a tough game.”
Grundy believes it’s close to, if not already, a genuine rivalry now.
It may not have the historical weight behind a Collingwood v Carlton clash or have had that ‘line in the sand’ moment which fuelled the Essendon v Hawthorn fire, but the players still feel it out in the middle.
Players never want to lose any games of football, against anyone, however there’s bonus points in making sure that mob across town never gets the better of you.
“From a team’s perspective, both sides feel that rivalry. I don’t know what the general feel on the outside looking in is but team-to-team there definitely is,” Grundy said.
“I think both sides lift for this game now and really want to win it.”
