In his second diary entry, Grundy tells collingwoodfc.com.au about how he has coped with a back injury, his relationships with his more senior teammates and how he fared on the club's annual First Years camp.
Click here to read Brodie's first diary entry.
Dear Diary,
Since we last spoke, I've put on four kilos and am feeling more confident in myself.
I'm coming to terms a bit more with the monotonous nature of AFL life which has enabled me to be more organised around my football.
I suppose a big learning curve has been the amount of scrutiny and pressure that the playing group and coaches put on you to get the most out of yourself. Craig McRae (Head of Development) explains it as "tough love", as the club's objective is for you to play good footy. It rewards you for the times you excel and gives you that "tough love" for the times you do not meet the club's core values. What I have learnt is that everyone at the club is here to help you, and that any feedback you receive is never personal.
The most important value I have learnt about is "Side by Side", which is evident in the strong culture of the club and how even though I have been in rehab with my injury I have still felt 100 per cent involved.
Every morning, it's either 'Daisy' or 'Swanny' keen to see me out on the track. Dane, a number of times, hasn't been afraid to let his thoughts be known. He'll say: "Oi, big boy! When are we going to see this giraffe have a trot out on the grass?" I guess it's comments like that, no matter how silly they may be, that continually spur you on to fast track your rehab.
Last week was my first running session out on the track in roughly three months. I have been privileged at the club to have access to such outstanding facilities and I believe this is a reason as to why players always get the best out of themselves here at Collingwood. There are no excuses.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the AlterG, or the "Ali-G" as it's known as by the playing group, it is an anti-gravity treadmill that has empowered me to run at, for example, 70 per cent of my body weight. This has been really useful for my rehabilitation process as I am able to attain the same conditioning component without the same physical loading through my spine due to body weight (having put on four kilos makes a big difference haha!).
So from here on in, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I have been working hard with the physiotherapists, as well as the strength and conditioning coaches (notably our Rehabilitation Specialist Chris Seville) to get stronger and mould myself into the same physical stature as Darren Jolly and Ben Hudson.
The first year group has been lucky enough to spend some time outside of the football bubble where we can get away and bond more intimately about where we have come from and where we hope to go.
This year's camp was based in Mansfield, which coaches also attended including 'Bucks'.
It was great to see some of the coaches outside the confines of the football environment and converse about things non-football such as music and family.
One highlight of the trip was hiking up the West Ridge of Mt Buller which took a strenuous three hours. Something that has helped me with being injured is having some sort of understanding about the human body and myself and the Doctor (Peter Bacquie) lagged behind the group talking about anatomy and physiology.
After the hike up the mountain, there were no toilets and Ben Kennedy was struggling, so, yeah, you get the picture...
Later on, as the sun was at its peak, baked by the scorching heat the group took a downhill bike trail that went for 10km down the other side of the hill towards the town. Downhilling was a hobby of mine growing up back in the hills of Adelaide so I really enjoyed the experience and it was pleasing to go on a trail I had never been on before.
Our tour guide said to make sure we stay together, but I just couldn’t help myself and rode off and left the group in the dust, flying over boulders, smashing through creeks and ponds…until I got a puncture - that sucked. At least then I was able to embrace how beautiful the Victorian countryside is, compared to the industrialised concrete jungle of Melbourne City. It reminded me of a poetic piece I wrote in high school.
Back at home, I have now moved out of the house I was sharing with Tim Broomhead, Ben Kennedy and Adam Oxley and have moved in with my Auntie who I had a good relationship with before I got drafted, having came over to Melbourne several times a year during my time playing basketball. I'm still not too far from where I was living with the other boys originally, but it has meant that I have been a lot more organised and independent.
