Working alongside full-back Ted Richards, the pair took on the opposition’s biggest opponents and maintained high defensive standards for the majority of the year.
In addition to his impressive defensive feats, Grundy also reached his 150-game milestone this season, which saw him earn Life Membership at the Swans.
Speaking to SwansTV, Grundy said while he was pleased with his year, he could not rest of his laurels heading into 2015.
It’s been a tough time around the club since the Grand Final. How are you feeling and how are the boys feeling?
There’s been a bit of a lull around I suppose since the game. We are pretty disappointed with the way we played, but we’ll come back next year and have another crack at it.
It’s a tricky one to talk about because the season itself was really good for the Swans, how do you reflect on the season now and were there any positive you can take out of it?
We finished on top after a slow start to the year, so we turned that around. We played pretty good footy for almost every round, but it is hard to look back on a good year when you finish poorly. There were some positives there, but still the last game will sit with us.
You played a regular role in the team and faced similar challenges each week taking on some of the biggest forwards. How did you feel about the way you played this year?
I thought my year was pretty consistent. Last year I was carrying a little bit of groin soreness, so this year it enabled me to feel a bit freer, which was good. I thought my year was pretty solid and that consistency is what you need down back, and I thought the back six as a whole were pretty solid in the end.
The defence had a few different players coming through at times, including Gary Rohan and Jeremy Laidler. How did you feel about the way the defence was working and depth in that area?
‘Jez’ (Laidler) was really good all year and I think he was probably stiff not to play in the finals with numbers and that, but he had a great year and played some really good footy, which was good to see. Also, having Gary down there created a bit of excitement when he got his hands on the ball. We’ve got some good young players coming through who are getting better and better each year and are playing well, so we can obviously take that into next year and go from there.
As a senior key defender, you do spend some time with our younger key defenders. Is there anyone you think might step up next season?
There’s Aliir Aliir and Xavier Richards who have been playing some really good footy in the reserves. I do a little bit with them as they are similar players to me in that key position role. I’m sure those two will keep pushing for spots next year definitely.
How about your own game? What do you hope to work on over the pre-season?
I haven’t really thought about it yet! But there are always things to work on I suppose and every year you get a little bit older so there are things you can work on like trying to get a little bit quicker because the game is not slowing down!
Before the pre-season is the off-season. What are you getting up to?
I’m heading off to Europe with Elise, my wife. We’ll just chill out, take it easy and enjoy the break.
