Heath Grundy Biography

Heath Grundy retires after 256 games due to a debilitating back injury, effective immediately.

"I couldn't do what I wanted to do at home and I think that was a bit of an indicator," Grundy said.

"I was struggling to get in and out of the car and I couldn't get my son in and out of the cot.

"It gets to a tipping point where it starts dragging you down every day and that's where it got too."

Heath Grundy will play on in 2019 after signing a new one-year deal with Sydney.

Heath Grundy takes time away from the game to deal with mental health issues.

"To put your hand up and ask for help can be a really challenging thing to do," Swans coach John Longmire said.

"We believe it's really important to provide an environment and the support to enable our players to do that."

On the eve of his 250th game, Heath Grundy says being overlooked at draft time and having to navigate his way to senior level was tough, but it's shaped the player he has become.

"There were guys that I played juniors with that had played 40-odd games when I debuted, so I had a slower start than most," he said.

"But I think that helped me develop and mature as a player, and it made me earn my spot."

The 32-year-old is currently ranked eighth all-time at the Swans behind several club greats for games played. By the end of 2018, he should have moved into sixth.

"It's a bit surreal to be honest given some of the players that I've gone past," he said.

"There's been a patch of some pretty handy players that have all come through and been around the club for a number of years and played some pretty good footy together."

Dan Hannebery and defenders Dane Rampe and Heath Grundy have been added to the Sydney Swans leadership group for 2016.

The trio was voted into the new roles by teammates on the Swans' pre-season camp to Coffs Harbour a fortnight ago, joining co-captains Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack, plus Nick Smith, Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker in the eight-man group.

Heath Grundy will play in his 150th game this week against Gold Coast.

"I'm very proud to play 150 games for this club," Grundy said.

"I had to do it pretty hard early on and had a bit of a slow start to my career, but to be able to secure my spot in the senior side and finally get to 150 feels great and hopefully there's a few more to come.

"The club has been great to me and gave me time to develop and I always took that into account over the years.

"Hopefully I've been able to repay the club with some good games of footy."

Heath Grundy's manager Marty Pask says there is not chance his client will be involved in a trade for Kurt Tippett by the Swans.

"He's in Sydney and that is the beginning and end of it. Sydney will not trade him at all," Pask said.

"He's happy being in Sydney . . . He's just extended his contract with Sydney, so there's no way in this world he's going to be traded."

Heath Grundy says he was devastated to miss the Swans opening final against Adelaide and was just happy to see the team win after being suspended for striking James Podsiadly.

"My whole career I hadn't been involved in anything like that, it was just a silly incident, and it was unfortunate [that] I couldn't play on the weekend," Grundy said.

"It was pretty frustrating after playing all the games, but I was just glad the boys won."

Heath Grundy and Sydney challenge the defender's one-match ban for striking James Podsiadly in the hope that he will be allowed to play in the Swans' qualifying final against Adelaide.

"It's a bit difficult to comment but we think we've got a case and it will pan out this evening," Sydney coach John Longmire said.

"We're pretty keen for Heath to play this week obviously and we think he's got a case."

Sydney defender Heath Grundy has failed in his appeal to overturn his one-match suspension for striking Cat James Podsiadly and will miss the Swans' final against the Crows.

On the eve of Heath Grundy's 100th match, Swans coach John Longmire says Grundy was recruited as a key forward but his career only took off when he moved into defence.

"He was a bit unsure of himself and had some pretty big personalities in the forward line and was just trying to find his feet," Longmire said.

"He would play some good roles and kick two or three and then we wouldn't see him for a little bit and he'd be in and out of the team.

"It wasn't until we moved him to centre half-back that he was selected every week and became a really good player for us."

Heath Grundy didn't know it at the time, but he played several games late last year with glandular fever.

"A couple of times during the game I was a bit flat and struggling to get going. I'd make one or two efforts and I'd be buggered," he said when playing against Geelong in late 2011.

"I got a blood test and turned out it was glandular fever. So that's how it went. I don't know where I got it from, but it knocks you about and I missed the rest of the season."

Sydney defender Heath Grundy has spoken about his frustrations at missing the finals due to a bout with glandular fever.

"I thought we were a chance to go a long way into September so I was doing everything to make sure I would be ready for the preliminary final if we'd made it that far," Grundy said on the club's website," Grundy said.

"I was feeling really good by the time of the Hawthorn semi-final so I was excited that we might get through and I could play the next week. It wasn't to be, and it was frustrating, but that is what happens sometimes."

Heath Grundy will miss Saturday night's elimination final with St Kilda after contracting glandular fever.

In-form key defender says he's not the answer to his side's scoring struggles this season despite playing as a forward in the years leading up to him being drafted by the Swans.

"I'm happy down back at the moment. I actually played a bit of both as a junior, but coming up here I suppose they saw me as playing forward so I did that for about three or four years," Grundy said.

"That's where I was always practising to play, but then they threw me down back and I've been down there since."

Heath Grundy and Kieren Jack have signed new deals that will keep them at the Sydney Swans until the end of 2013.

"We saw in the last off-season, with the traded players and recruits that we picked up, that there is obviously a bright future ahead of us," Jack said.

"It's going to be sad to see older players like Brett Kirk go, but it's exciting that there is a young group coming through and we want to build a successful future for ourselves."

Teammate Heath Grundy agreed with Jack's assessment of the future of the Swans.

"There are exciting times ahead for the club. Kieren is around my age as well so we've sort of grown up here together, and it's great to know we're both committed to the Swans," he said.

"I took a couple of seasons to get going. It was three or four years before I got a regular game but going into defence has been a good thing for me and I'm really enjoying my footy."

Craig Bolton knows that he will face a range of opponents in 2010 as Heath Grundy is groomed to become Sydney's key tall back.

"Heath Grundy showed last year what he can do and I think he's going to develop and be the linchpin of this side in the years to come," Bolton said.

"He's got a lot of potential and he's a great attacking defender as well. Hopefully he'll just continue to develop this year."

His team lost by a point, but the St Kilda match showed Heath Grundy can compete with some of the best forwards in the League after he tallied 18 possessions and 10 marks.

"I am happy to be playing in the backline and I am happy to be in the team. Playing alongside Craig Bolton is great as he helps me with my game," Grundy said.

Heath Grundy launched himself over Swans ruckman Darren Jolly in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against Port Adelaide and took one of the best high marks seen at the SCG since Warwick Capper set the ground alight in the 1980s.

"You can't plan those sorts of things. I just went for the footy and I ended up taking it," he said when asked his recollection of the grab.

"I think it was Jolls I sat on and when I jumped, I thought I'd gone a bit early. But he gave me a bit of a ride and I managed to stay up there. It just worked out perfectly in the end."