Earlier this year he completed his Master of Business Administration to go alongside his health sciences degree.

Yet the 30-year old finds himself in the thick of an obsessive football landscape with intense interest and constant scrutiny.

A deep thinker and an intellect, you might call him a different cat … or just an everyday guy.

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley believes Grundy’s “earthy” and “authentic” mum, Jennifer Palmer, has had a “major influence” in shaping him to do things his own way.

“He’s always thought: ‘I’m a big boy and good at footy and I’ll give it a crack, but it’s not necessarily what defines me’,” Buckley told foxfooty.com.au.

“He’s really driven, does everything you’d expect an ultimate professional does and wants to find out how good he can be. Once he’s set on a path he’s really dedicated. But it’s not 24 hours a day.

“When some people might put their feet up on the couch and watch a Netflix series, he’ll whack the glasses on, read and churn out a project due in five weeks’ time. Or be ready for content from a subject he’s studying.

“He’s always maintained his interest in studies, learning and reading.

“He chooses to use his time wisely and is really efficient in the way he does that.

“He’s a remarkable young man who happens to be a pretty good footballer as well.”

It’s an approach that helped change the culture at Collingwood for the better in the late 2010s under Buckley. If not for a famous Dom Sheed goal in the 2018 decider, Grundy and Buckley probably would’ve won a flag together.

 

For while a player-coach relationship is usually the other way round for the most part, Buckley said Grundy taught him valuable lessons along his own journey.

“I’m absolutely in his corner, he helped me as much as anyone,” Buckley said.

“When you’re managing an individual like that, you have to see it a bit differently than you might’ve, because your job as a coach is to cater for the people you’re coaching for as much as to impose what you want to teach them.

“‘Brodes’ as well as the likes of Darcy Moore, Tom Langdon, Tom Phillips are just different units. The new generation are a little bit different. I love the way they see it.”

Perhaps what’s gotten lost in a couple of challenging seasons for Grundy is just how dominant a player he is.

Only a few years ago, Grundy and Max Gawn – arguably the greatest ruckman of all time – were very much neck and neck over who was the game’s premier ruckman during a period Grundy picked up consecutive All-Australian blazers and best and fairests.

It culminated in Grundy signing that lucrative seven-year contract with the Magpies at the end of 2019 when he was at the park of his powers. Ever since, there’s been an added layer of interest in the big man, which comes with the territory.

 

 

It came amid a strong pull for the Sturt product to return to South Australia before he recommitted to Collingwood for life … or so he thought.

“I think that was a real possibility (Grundy returning to SA). The irony in retrospect is that might’ve been better for both sides at the time,” Buckley said.

“It might’ve saved a bit of pain, which is interesting, because in that moment you would’ve thought that was really bad for Collingwood. It’s sliding doors.”

When Collingwood surged into the top four in its first year under Craig McRae in 2022 while Grundy was sidelined with a posterior cruciate ligament injury, the club sensationally traded him to Melbourne with five years remaitning on his deal to ease its salary cap position.

It’s not that the Pies didn’t rate him, but his talent had proven superfluous to them at the time amid Darcy Cameron’s rise.

While it was done maturely and professionally as one of the first true salary clearing moves in AFL history, Grundy had intended to play out his career in black and white, so it would’ve been some sort of tough pill to swallow.

However, a failed pairing with Gawn at the Demons that eventually saw Grundy dumped to the VFL was arguably a new low – how could one of the game’s best ruckmen find himself in the second-tier competition?

And so Grundy was traded a second time as he and Melbourne shook hands, admitted things didn’t work and called the short-lived marriage off just one season in.

 

 

What a difference 12 months can make though.

If someone told you this time last year that Grundy and backup Lions ruckman Darcy Fort would be going head-to-head in the 2024 AFL Grand Final, you would’ve laughed at them.

“The way he’s carried himself has been exemplary. He wouldn’t have chosen some of the twists and turns that happened,” Buckley added.

“‘Brodes’ has been through his fair share or hardship on the other side of that reunion with Collingwood at the end of 2019. The Covid hub was really tough for him, it was a difficult situation and I think it impacted him quite significantly.

“There’s a coaching changeover in 2021 and in 2022 it looks a bit different for him again – umming and ahhing what’s going to happen – then he goes to Melbourne.

“He’s only just settled now after probably three or four years of unrest, wondering where he fits and wondering whether he’s valued. To come through the other side of it and land on his feet, you don’t always get that opportunity.

“He’s at a good organisation where he adds value and feels seen for what he gives. He’d be pretty happy with the position he’s found himself in.”

Of course, Grundy also had to watch his former teammates – many of whom he’d played the majority of his career with – salute in Collingwood’s grand final win over Brisbane last year. You can imagine how tough that would’ve been.

So can he follow their lead on Saturday?

 

 

They say third time’s a charm, and Sydney was always a more logical fit for him than Melbourne given the Swans had wanted for a true No. 1 ruckman for some time. He could address a need and truly help them reach another level.

Grundy has very much done that in the red and white and given the AFL world a big reminder of his enormous talent as a bulldozing, bash and crash ruckman including being in All-Australian conversation for a key chunk of the season.

He’s averaged 18 disposals and 32 hit-outs playing in all 25 games despite costing the Swans just Pick 46 and a future second-rounder.

Perhaps more importantly than anything, he’d feel truly valued again in his environment. And isn’t that all anyone should want?

You might say he’s endured a tough road and that there’d be some regrets along the way. Or things have worked out perfectly and everything has fallen into place at the right time. It’s pretty crazy to reflect on how it’s all played out.

While a flag would be an ideal chapter to a redemption story, the pragmatic Grundy wouldn’t let it define him. After all, fate can be out of your hands at times. Grundy knows that better than anyone.

“He’ll be a man possessed on Saturday, he would’ve relished having a crack at Oscar McInerney. But it doesn’t really matter who’s on the other side, he’ll go about his business the same,” Buckley said.

“He’s always been a guy who’s wanted to experience it all. He doesn’t shy away from the lows and hardship because he knows that’s part of life. I think he would feel like it’s only right he also gets a chance at experiencing the highs.

“If he was to be a premiership player, he’d enjoy it and it’d knock his socks off, but he would very quickly be able to put it into perspective.

“It wouldn’t just be for him but the people he’s invested in, his family and friends, the people at the Swans and his coaches along the journey.

“I certainly hope he is on the right side of it, but he would be the first one to be able to contextualise it no matter how it goes.

“You can only ever put your best foot forward, sometimes there’s things you can’t control.”