Opening Round Talking Points, analysis, reaction, results, wrap, highlights, Brodie Grundy trade, Mason Cox – MASHAHER

The AFL’s inaugural Opening Round is officially in the books, and we’re all over the weekend’s biggest talking points.

We witnessed a miraculous comeback at the Gabba and a Giant upset among a host of other eye-catching moments from the weekend.

The big issues from Opening Round of the 2024 AFL season analysed in Talking Points!

The only place to watch every game of the 2024 AFL season is Fox Footy, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

‘GREATEST FREE HIT OF ALL TIME’: DEES CALLED OUT FOR ‘RIDICULOUS’ GRUNDY TRADE

Pick 46 and a future second-round pick.

That’s all it cost the Swans in the end to land a player who appears to have addressed a very important list need for 2024.

Brodie Grundy was enormous in his debut for Sydney against his former side, Melbourne, in Thursday night’s season opener, out duelling Max Gawn in a statement that made one thing clear – he’s back.

The dual All-Australian ruckman finished with 23 disposals, 15 contested, nine clearances and 31 hit-outs — 13 to advantage – very much looking like the beast mode Grundy of old to give the Swans ascendancy in the midfield contest and clearance – an area they needed to improve in.

“The Swans haven’t had a ruckman like this for so long. It changes your whole contested profile,” two-time premiership winning Kangaroo David King told Fox Footy on Thursday night.

“It was the greatest free hit of all-time from a list perspective. It’s an unbelievable asset the Swans have.”

It marked Grundy’s second trade in 12 months after things didn’t work out at Melbourne after Grundy and Gawn struggled to co-exist at their optimum.

Despite this, did the Demons give Grundy away too cheap?

The 29-year old’s trade value inherently dropped after a season he spent stages in the VFL and ultimately wanted out. It was yet another unique situation after Collingwood initially moved him to the Demons for salary cap relief.

But with four years remaining on a lucrative deal, Melbourne effectively made another contender significantly stronger and lost important depth in the process.

This is where the AFL is unique from other sporting codes in that clubs can’t put players on the market and make it a bidding war to get the best return in a trade. Instead, when a player wants to be traded or gets put up for trade, they get to pick where they go and it’s on the two clubs to agree to a suitable deal.

For Port Adelaide 300-gamer Kane Cornes, AFL clubs need to be “far more ruthless at the trade table,” lamenting Melbourne for giving away Grundy for “a bag of chips”.

“Teams have to be far more ruthless at the trade table, with players who you have under contract and with players who you are happy to let go if you need two,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.

“Melbourne have Brodie Grundy under contract for four years. Max Gawn is 32 years of age and going to need some support. In the trade period, Melbourne go: ‘OK, (Grundy’s) not happy, let’s trade him to Sydney, who is going to be a rival of ours’.

“You didn’t trade him to North Melbourne or West Coast. You traded him to Sydney for Pick 46 and a second-round pick … if they’re pretty successful is not going to be worth that much either.”

Cornes highlighted how Grundy was arguably the difference between the Swans and Demons in Thursday night’s clash, while there’s suddenly serious questions of Melbourne’s backup ruck stocks.

“If Brodie Grundy doesn’t play last night, do Melbourne win that game of football? I don’t know, but Melbourne have got a better chance with Gawn in that midfield if you’re rucking against Peter Ladhams,” Cornes added.

“Now if you’re telling me you’re going to rely on Tom Fullarton and Josh Schache to back up a 32-year-old Max Gawn this year when you had a good, solid ruckman under contact for four years and you’ve given him away for a bag of chips, that is a ridiculous list management decision.

“At the time I said it – you only trade Grundy if it is beneficial to the Melbourne Football Club. They’ve done Sydney a favour and potentially it’s cost them one win already and your rival gets the jump on you because you’ve given Grundy, who torched Max Gawn last night, away for a bag of chips.”

CURIOUS SIGNS AS ‘VANILLA’ DEES ‘BULLIED’ BY YOUNG SWANS

Win or lose, Melbourne under Simon Goodwin has always prided itself on contest, defence and territory.

Which is why Thursday night’s season-opener loss to Sydney was somewhat jarring, for the Demons were unusually beaten at their own game.

More intriguingly, they were beaten by a team whose Achilles heel against contender clubs last season was contested ball – and that was when their prime midfield movers were available.

Despite Max Gawn, Jack Viney, Christian Salem, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver – albeit with the latter having an interrupted pre-season – all out on the field for Opening Round, the Demons were humbled at the coalface in the second half on their way to a 22-point loss to Sydney.

Without Callum Mills, Luke Parker and Taylor Adams, the Swans across the final two quarters won the contested possession (+21) and clearance (+8) counts convincingly, while they also won the inside 50 count across the entire four quarters (+14).

Melbourne last season was No. 1 in the competition for inside 50 differential – and second in the previous two seasons. They’ve been the best team for contested possession differential in the past three consecutive seasons.

Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna told Fox Footy the Swans “beat Melbourne at their own game”, while four-time premiership Hawk Jason Dunstall said the Demons looked “really tired” in the last quarter.

“It’s almost back to the drawing board for the Dees. They’re going to have to lick their wounds and get themselves up again for the next round,” Dunstall told Fox Footy.

Dual premiership Kangaroo David King said the Dees “were belted in the second half”.

“Sydney played to win and Melbourne were a little bit vanilla – and if you’re going to play vanilla, you’ve got to bash people at contest,” King told Fox Footy.

“This game was in the balance, particularly second and third term – and they (the Swans) just flexed. They were just too tough – and that’s something you never say against Melbourne. They just got bullied.”

Asked post-game if his players were exhausted after a tumultuous summer, Goodwin told reporters: “I don’t think so. I just think Sydney’s scrimmage method, their clearance method, their ability to win contest was better than ours. They were a lot cleaner – and in the end that makes you look a little bit tired.

“We were ready, we were prepared and we just got beaten by a better team.

“We’ve lost tonight, but we’ll learn, get better and find a way to do those things better. If we want to be the team that we want to become in time we’re going to have to be stronger in the contest for longer.”

BLUES HERO BIG WINNER FROM ‘PROGRESSIVE’ TACTIC

Two years ago, it was Jeremy Cameron as a midfielder.

Last year, Joe Daniher as a ruck.

This year, it’s another big forward Harry McKay’s who’s been given licence to push up he ground to impact around the ball.

And on Friday night it appeared to pay dividends for Carlton – and was another nod to, as Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon dubbed it, a “progressive” trend in the AFL.

McKay booted three goals – including a famous match-winner with just over one minute left – from 13 disposals and seven marks (four contested). Crucially, eight of Daniher’s 13 touches led to Blues scores in the one-point win over Brisbane,

But with Marc Pittonet out of the side – curiously he was deemed available for selection but wasn’t picked – McKay was given a chance to put his ruck training over the summer into practice. While Tom De Koning took the bulk of the load, McKay attended six ruck contests and finished with two clearances and three spoils.

“It’s good fun! Obviously getting jumped into isn’t great, but getting around the ball and using my legs to run is good fun,” McKay told Fox Footy post-match.

“Obviously there’s some great defenders – Harris Andrews tonight – so anytime you can get up the ground and use your mobility to get around the ball is nice.

“It’s only for a little bit each quarter, but I’m really enjoying the role and whatever it looks like going forward, I’m all for it.”

Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis pointed out that a player like McKay would feel “energised” pinch-hitting at stoppages.

“There is something in him going into the ruck,” Lewis told Fox Footy.

“Yes he doesn’t compete like a ruckman in the centre bounce – and nor should he – but once you get in and around the contest, you’re hearing different conversations and you’re more energised when you go back to your preferred position.

“Daniher has done it well, clearly Harry McKay can do it, maybe (Charlie) Curnow can do it on occasions as well. It’s just nice to have that flexibility.”

Lyon said he’d love to see more clubs follow suit and let their star goalkickers loose up the ground sporadically.

“I’m going to watch now for other players,” Lyon said post-match.

“You’ve got too much talent invested in those players, so to see them expand their role I think is a really progressive thought process from the coaching fraternity. I think other players are going to evolve into the roles as well.”

‘FORGET WHAT YOU SAW’ FROM SUNS THIS PRE-SEASON … THEY MIGHT BE FOR REAL

An uninspiring pair of pre-season Gold Coast outings caused some pundits to form premature concerns about Damien Hardwick’s new brigade.

But, after quelling a second-half resurgence from Adem Yze’s Tigers, the Suns started ‘Dimma’s maiden campaign in Carrara on a record-breaking foot.

The Suns’ 61-point half-time lead was its largest in club history, having led by as many as 67 points late in the second quarter.

Led by spearhead forward Ben King (five goals) and bullocking midfielders Matt Rowell (game-high 33 disposals and 20 clearances) and Noah Anderson (25 possessions, six inside-50s), Gold Coast dismantled Richmond from the beginning and elicited signs it could be a bona fide force this AFL season.

The lethal Rowell-Anderson combo streamed away from centre bounces on numerous occasions, delivering to the likes of King, Jack Lukosius (three goals, six marks) and the smaller Malcolm Rosas (three goals, five marks), who were all ominously imposing as Suns targets in attack.

“Forget what you saw in the pre-season, this is a confident Suns (outfit),” Fox Footy commentator Anthony Hudson declared on Saturday afternoon.

Hardwick’s soldiers built their commanding lead off the back of devastating transition and pinpoint inside-50 delivery created from a strong forward-half turnover game.

“It’s just a process of winning,” Hardwick told Fox Footy post-game.

“At the end of the day, we were happy with a lot of the stuff – time in forward half (was something) we spoke about before the game, forward-half defence was pretty good (and) D-50 stoppage … We were reasonably happy with the game that we played.”

The Suns faltered slightly against a “composed” second-half Tigers attack, but ultimately, their body of work on Saturday proved overwhelming for Richmond in Yze’s debut.

“They’ve steadied pretty well, Gold Coast,” Garry Lyon said on the Fox Footy broadcast in the final term.

“The bottom line is … Damien Hardwick’s going to get a victory in his first game as coach of the Gold Coast Suns. And that, at the end of the day, is what he’s up here to do – win games of footy.”

The Suns have never qualified for the finals in their 13-year history. But, while it would be a knee-jerk reaction of the largest proportion to definitively say they will after Saturday’s performance, it’s impossible to deny the promising early signs at Carrara in ‘24.

‘WE WERE OFF’: PIES DEALT ‘WAKE-UP CALL’ AS BACK-SIX ‘RED FLAG’ COMPOUNDS INJURY CONCERNS

Collingwood struggled in multiple facets during its surprising Opening Round shellacking at the hands of the Giants.

And, while Craig McRae still has a sizeable key-forward problem, the reigning premier was most exposed in defence on Saturday night.

Missing crucial key stopper Nathan Murphy (concussion) and versatile swingman Jeremy Howe (calf), the Pies’ back six were undermanned heading into ENGIE Stadium for the rematch of last year’s preliminary final.

“System-wise, I thought we were off where we have been or want to be — defensively, in particular,” McRae stated post-game. “We’ve got to get better, don’t we?

“We want to be aggressive in defence and, funnily enough, when we weren’t that’s when we got hurt.

“So, we’ll learn some lessons around that, but the aerial threats (were) a real feature. I thought the Giants talls influenced the game aerially and we just didn’t impact that part of the game — I thought that was really influential.”

The Magpies failed to quell dominant GWS key forwards Callum Brown (five goals, seven marks) and Jesse Hogan (four majors, seven grabs), while 2022 Pick 1 Aaron Cadman (two goals, three marks) and the smaller Brent Daniels (equal-career-best four goals) also had their way in attack.

Key-position backman Charlie Dean debuted for Collingwood on Saturday — a tremendous milestone considering his injury hindrances thus far in his career — but he was unable to assert himself amid the perpetual Orange Tsunami.

Dean earned the trust of Collingwood’s match committee ahead of 2023 premiership player Billy Frampton, who was relegated to the emergencies for the Pies’ season-opener.

“Collingwood is putting all its eggs in the frontal pressure basket,” former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley told Fox Footy at half-time, dissecting the side’s defensive shortcomings.

“When the Giants get out of (those) first two or three handballs, Collingwood can’t stop them in the midfield and can’t defend D50 at the moment.

“Fifteen scores from 24 entries (to half-time) for the Giants is a real red flag for the Collingwood coaching staff and they’ll have to (decide) if they’re going to balance their defence across the field a little bit more.”

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd told The Sunday Footy Show the Pies were also shown up “attitude-wise”, pointing to some loose checking from Collingwood’s defenders as opposed to the likes of Giants trio Sam Taylor, Harry Himmelberg and Jack Buckley, who gave their direct Pies opponents no space.

“It was a wake-up call last night for Collingwood. I know it’s one game, but Craig McRae can walk in and say: ‘We were exposed in just about every department of the game,’” Lloyd said on Channel 9.

Murphy’s timeline for return remains indefinite and Howe’s progress is unclear.

It means there’s every chance Collingwood’s available defensive personnel is the same next Friday — when they face Sydney’s Logan McDonald, Hayden McLean and Joel Amartey — as it was on Saturday.

However, as Buckley noted, maybe all that’s required are some strategic and positional adjustments. We’ll soon see.