Newly re-signed Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has conceded the Demons’ daring experiment to recruit Brodie Grundy and associate him with fellow star ruckman Max Gawn has fallen nicely wanting expectations.
Grundy, a twin All-Australian at Collingwood, finds himself in Melbourne’s VFL workforce after the Dees functioned higher with Gawn as the only ruckman.
Melbourne have tried to hone Grundy’s ahead craft so he may spend extra time in assault however he’s now unlikely to function of their premiership push with one spherical within the home-and-away season remaining until there are a number of accidents.
Goodwin’s language across the ruck mixture has shifted dramatically since Grundy was first axed from the workforce forward of the round-18 conflict with the Brisbane Lions.
For the primary time, Goodwin on Thursday admitted the Grundy-Gawn duo hadn’t labored.
“In terms of the way they function in the team together from a forward-half perspective, I think it’s pretty clear that we acknowledge that it hasn’t quite been the success that we’re hoping for – and that certainly hasn’t been all on Brodie,” Goodwin, who on Wednesday re-signed as Demons coach till the top of 2026, mentioned.
“We were hoping for Max to play big time forward as well, and between the two of them we haven’t quite had the impact that we would have liked throughout the year.
“That’s impacted Brody’s ability to play in the team in the last five or six weeks.
“I think from that perspective we acknowledge that part of it hasn’t worked.
“There’s certainly areas of the combination that has worked and there are certainly areas of having them both on our list that has worked as well.”
If Grundy stays on the outer, the 29-year-old will virtually definitely request a commerce to a 3rd membership in as a few years.
The two-time Magpies best-and-fairest winner was pressured out of Collingwood on the finish of final 12 months within the membership’s try to dump his hefty wage from their wage cap.
Goodwin mentioned interested by accommodating a commerce for Grundy at season’s finish was not the house he was in “right now”.
“I’m in the space of winning games of footy and building the best footy team possible,” he mentioned.
“Those things will be discussed at the end of the year but Brodie from my end is a Melbourne player.
“I understand the exterior talk and the noise about it. But now he’s got four years to go as a Melbourne player and we’d certainly love to have him at our footy club.”
Grundy’s hopes of getting again into the workforce have been diminished additional with Goodwin confirming artful ahead Bayley Fritsch (foot) would return from a seven-week layoff on this Sunday’s conflict with Sydney on the SCG.
Melbourne can nonetheless end as excessive as second and safe a house qualifying closing ought to they defeat the Swans and different outcomes fall their method.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
