Grundy finds top gear as sizzling Swans cull Kangaroos
Grundy dominated in Kangaroos counterpart Tristan Xerri's absence, and Isaac Heeney kicked five goals as the Swans kept their September hopes alive with a 12.12 (84) to 7.11 (53) victory over North at the SCG on Saturday.
The result brings the Swans (9-9) within four points of the ninth-placed Western Bulldogs (10-8), with eighth-placed Fremantle (11-6) on 44 points ahead of Sunday's clash against ladder leaders Collingwood.
A huge first half in the middle 😤Is Todd Goldstein's record of 80 in danger? 👀#AFLSwansNorth pic.twitter.com/LVVpiFqOaE
— AFL (@AFL) July 19, 2025
Meanwhile, North Melbourne (4-13) are left to lament their fourth straight loss.
Swans ruck Grundy's late-season dominance continued as he gathered a monster 62 hitouts, 11 clearances and 22 disposals.
Without the suspended Xerri, North coach Alastair Clarkson handed Callum Coleman-Jones his first AFL game of the year and his first since rupturing his achilles tendon last year to do the job against Grundy.
But luckless Coleman-Jones (calf) went down in the first quarter, forcing North to call on Brynn Teakle and Jack Darling.
The trio took a combined 10 hitouts.
Heeney benefited the most from a near-lethal connection with Grundy, finishing with 34 disposals and 13 clearances to go with his five-goal haul.
For the Kangaroos, Luke Davies-Uniacke starred on return from concussion, alongside Jy Simpkin and Caleb Daniel, while former Swans stalwart Luke Parker was quiet in his first game back at the SCG.
A pre-first-bounce tussle with Kangaroos defender Wil Dawson was enough to rile up Swans forward Hayden McLean, who opened the scoring before Heeney slotted his first.
North responded through Teakle and Cooper Harvey (two goals) to limit the margin to six points at quarter-time.
The visitors started the second term better and leaped ahead by one point, before the Swans grappled back momentum with four goals to two.
Goalscoring opportunities dried up for both sides in a third-quarter grind, with North captain Simpkin kicking the only goal.
Heeney made up for lost time by slotting a goal in the opening 30 seconds of the final quarter, the first in a chain of four majors for the home side.
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