BRODIE Grundy has credited visualisation techniques as a key factor in his emergence as a star of the competition, with the Collingwood ruckman admitting he had also contemplated what a dream Magpies premiership would mean to him this year.
The 24-year-old, who last week was named as an All Australian for the first time, will spearhead the Pies' midfield in their qualifying final clash with West Coast on Saturday night.
Grundy was second in the AFL for hit-outs this season, behind fellow All Australian big man Max Gawn, and said a vital part of his growth as a player had come down to his mindset.
"The belief that the group has is really strong. Visualisation is a really important part of that for me, so that's how I go about it – believing that it's possible and then chasing it," he said on Monday.
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"It's more the positive self-talk and getting the language right. It's not if we make finals, it's when we make finals. That's the narrative that I spin in my head and it helps me play good footy."
Grundy is preparing for just the second final of his AFL career, having played his first in his seventh game in his debut 2013 season.
He said he had chatted to coach Nathan Buckley about readjusting his personal goals since his maiden All Australian selection, citing captain Scott Pendlebury's continued status at the top of the competition as a benchmark.
"I think the beauty of this environment is we've got some players who have been high performers – 'Pendles', the coach himself – so I just spoke to him about the [All Australian] being a long-term goal of mine for a number of years," he said.
"To get there in the end was great and to get that validation. The person I am, I'm very competitive, and I see that as the start for me. If I can add one or two more before my career's done, and hopefully a premiership to finish off the year it'd be really nice.
"We just spoke about how it's not particularly the destination it's more the journey, and the journey over the last few years has been really exciting."
Grundy, who came from an elite basketball background before he was drafted by the Magpies in 2012, highlighted retired champion Kobe Bryant as a role model for his outlook.
He also said he had spent time thinking about what it would be like to hold aloft the premiership cup on Grand Final day.
"It's a bit of positive reinforcement and visualisation of achieving those things. A lot of the role models I look up to talk about that, the elite performers like Kobe Bryant, who I've looked up to as a young player," he said.
Grundy said the Pies were well rested since their round 23 trip to Perth when they beat Fremantle, and that they held no fears about returning to Optus Stadium to meet the Eagles.
"I had a few bumps and bruises from the last game, so it was really nice for me personally to kick back and refresh mentally and physically," he said.
"We're bullish about what we can do."
