The first Notebook of the season has arrived, thankfully with enough to talk about from the abbreviated opening round of matches.
For those coming to this for the first time, the goal is to go in depth on a handful of topics that catch my eye from watching too much footy every week. Sometimes it’ll be with video, other times with stats, or even a mixture of both, looking at trends, teams, and individuals.
A reminder for regular readers the Notebook has shifted to Wednesdays this year, ideally allowing me time for more details on each topic and not necessarily being wedded to the round just finished. It makes for a bit of an awkward start when the first round has only four games with none of them on Sunday, but here we are nonetheless.
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Brodie Grundy’s instant impact
Every year I probably end up fixating a little too much on a topic in trying to figure it out. Last season it was Melbourne’s forward system. This season it looms as Sydney’s midfield.
Despite their Opening Round win, it’s far from the finished article. These centre bounce combinations – which then largely double as midfield rotations until the next break in play (minus a half forward and/or half back coming up to the ball) – show the versatility and flexibility Sydney have to play with:
A reminder this doesn’t include any of Luke Parker, Taylor Adams, and Callum Mills, who are all best 22 when fit. We’ll see ups and downs as the preferred combinations settle down, form fluctuates, and injury hits.
Those ups and downs were on display in the first half, where Sydney got lucky on a number of occasions, not punished for their looseness around contests. But in the key swing of the game – early in the last quarter – it was a player with the most clearly defined role who proved vital.
At the start of the final term, it was a two-point game. Six and a half minutes of game time later it was a 22-point game and all but over, thanks in part to Brodie Grundy.
No disrespect* to every other ruckman who’s played for the Swans under John Longmire, but Grundy is instantly at the top of that pile and a perfect fit for this 2024 team.
(*This is what one has to say before proceeding with a sentence impossible to say without disrespect)
This isn’t about the head-to-head ruck battle with Max Gawn, because that’s been done to death, but rather away from that and all these key moments from Grundy as the game was decided.
Each clip here in isolation is nothing special. But combine it all, and for it to happen time and time again – the ground level work, the support running – it adds an extra dimension Sydney have never had during Longmire’s tenure.
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For those who missed any pre-season posts on The Shinboner, here’s where to catch up:
The Look Ahead for every club (scroll through to find your team)
Predicting every club’s over/under win total
North Melbourne’s match sim analysis v Collingwood
From The Notebook: 2024 Match Sim
North Melbourne’s pre-season analysis v St Kilda
From The Notebook: 2024 Pre-Season
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A Matt Rowell masterclass
20 clearances in a game is almost the definition of video game numbers.
Rowell’s efforts against Richmond were good for second most of all time in a game, behind only Paul Salmon for Hawthorn against North Melbourne in 1998. Perhaps I’m being cynical in doubting Salmon actually had 22 in that game, but that’s another conversation for another time.
Back in the present, Rowell almost single handedly battered Richmond’s midfield into submission in the first half.
Not to downplay Noah Anderson (25 disposals, 8 clearances), Touk Miller (28 disposals, 7 inside 50s) or Sam Flanders (26 disposals, 7 inside 50s), but it all started from Rowell doing as he pleased at stoppages.
The following video is all about Rowell in the first half, demonstrating how he didn’t necessarily do anything all that fancy, but dictated the game through a mix of strength and smarts: