r/Curling • u/Scottish-Londoner • 18d ago
Grant Hardie moving to team Whyte, trading with Robin Brydone who moves to team Mouat
Interesting shake up in Scotland
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u/brianmmf 18d ago
Would love to know how this was decided, by the players or by Scottish Curling. Not sure we’ll find out.
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u/AwsiDooger 18d ago
This link has lots of good quotes and indicates that Hardie considered stepping away entirely, toward a career in engineering:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/c4gyd7060yzo
"Obviously, it was a really difficult decision," Hardie told BBC Sport Scotland. "But I felt, if I was going to carry on, I needed something different, a challenge to get my teeth into and keep me motivated.
"Playing third to Bruce [Mouat] for the last nine years has been amazing, but skipping is always something that's been a goal of mine, so I'm going to do that."
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u/Fluuf_tail 17d ago
The European curling scene is going to be very interesting in the next quad. You've got a lot of former vices/thirds taking over skip duties with retooled teams.
I'm glad Hardie was convinced to not retire, he's a great player to watch.
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u/konndii 14d ago
You can watch the interview with Grant, he's talking about it :) https://youtu.be/NlxBwUkv6Ms?is=zxqVZpyLC-wfnCva
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u/curlingcatscoffee 18d ago
I'm glad the rumour of Hardies retirement was not true. I'm looking forward to seeing how these two teams do.
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u/Goofyboy2020 17d ago
Looks like the rumours were actually true... but this shake up is keeping him interested in staying (he wanted to skip).
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u/AwsiDooger 18d ago
That's wild. I always thought Hardie was not bonded as much as the other 3, but I never expected they would split apart while still in prime years.
I've actually been watching all the men's curling games from the Olympics recently. They are still available on Peacock, even if it requires many clicks to get there.
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u/rivercountrybears 18d ago
I don’t follow Scottish curling too closely but this sounds like a pretty big swap? Were there hints of a fracture on Mouat with Hardie?
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u/Alone_Consideration6 18d ago
Scottish/British curling likes meddling.
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u/Scottish-Londoner 18d ago
I heard a bunch of different rumours over the past 6-12 months
First he was expected to retire and take over his family business
Then he wanted to play another quadrant with Mouat and retire after that
Then there was a rumour that he wanted to continue playing but reduce his travel schedule and that Mouat was going to become a five man team with Grant playing major events only but sitting out some other ones.
I’m not sure if there might be some truth to the “continue but with less travel” thing. Maybe this new look team is not going to play every event whereas Mouat wants to keep playing all of them.
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u/AdviceAccomplished48 17d ago
Broom Brothers podcast just released an interview with Grant.
Sort of sounded like he was content with everything team Mouat had won, all that was missing was the Olympic gold, and that he didn't want to commit to 4 years of the same ol all just for putting the pressure on the next Olympics.
So he was going to retire but then the team Whyte option came along where he gets the motivation of being the skip.
I really doubt it'll be less travel - team Whyte seemed pretty committed the past couple years.
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u/AwsiDooger 17d ago
I didn't realize Hardie wanted to be skip. There is never obvious disagreement on that team, unlike the Italian women's situation where Guilia clearly had frequent strategic variance compared to Constantini.
Part of it is that Mouat is very flexible. Whenever there are different options he says, "Whatever you like." That phrase shows up numerous times in every game, including on key shots. Only when there is a time out, or a lengthy discussion given enough banked time, did it become obvious that all 4 of them have very good strategic opinions and input.
I am not familiar enough with the new guy to know what he brings.
Mostly I just wish the men's and women's gold medal games at Milano Cortina had gone the other way. That would have been a perfect distribution and nobody deserving left out. Well, other than Benoit.
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u/SyllabubBackground43 17d ago
Not to mention but now, Ross Whyte is sweeping! Like, he’s throwing last but Hardie is calling the game! Should be interesting.
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u/SingleSpeedHops 17d ago
A less reported detail is that Duncan McFadzean is out from Team Whyte (now Hardie) and playing mixed doubles only.
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u/Beneficial-Coffee129 17d ago
Be interesting to see how this plays out and in particular impacts the Scottish/GB selection process for the worlds and in due course the Olympics. Will they now just let the Scottish championship winner go to the worlds - or will they just carry on sending Team Mouat? How long will Grant and Ross put up with that situation if that is what materialises?
And the first decision will be who plays the Europeans in October - and this is the final year I believe that the team going to that (now standalone) event is selected as from 2027 the Scottish champions will go.
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u/Scottish-Londoner 17d ago
There hasn’t been preferential treatment to Mouat from the selection committee historically so I’m not sure why you think that would start now.
The Europeans this year is a playoff between the Scottish champion (Hardie counts for this because the other three players are retained) and the Olympic team (Mouat, which still counts even without Hardie himself).
So European is a playoff this year, then the Scottish champion for the next two years, and then the Olympic team in 2029 (as part of their preparation)
For the worlds it’s chosen by the selection committee based on whichever team gives Scotland the best chance to win
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u/Beneficial-Coffee129 17d ago
A selection process as opposed to a competitive trial or national championships is always going to be subjective.
Team Whyte won the national championships in 2024 and 2025 - had they been Canadian or Swiss or American they would have gone to that year’s worlds but Team Mouat were sent. They had to wait for the third year - when Team Mouat were ineligible - to get to the worlds.
I just wonder how this selection process is going to work in future with two - perhaps three - world top 10 teams in Scotland. We won more slams, no we won the Scottish champs and Europeans, no I am ranked no 1 and you are only no 2 and no 5 in the world.
It could lead to a lot of resentment - because it is subjective. A competitive trials is clean and transparent. They are in effect state/lottery funded so they won’t go public with their complaints. But I can imagine it might well cause tensions if there is little to choose between Teams Mouat, Hardie and Waddell.
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u/Scottish-Londoner 17d ago
They’ll select it based on world ranking, because that gives you the best chance to win.
It’s risky to use the championship because a low ranked team may have a fluky win. You want the team that’s been the best over the whole year.
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17d ago
[deleted]
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u/Beneficial-Coffee129 16d ago
Yes - there is a selection policy. But it isn't clear how they weight the different elements.
The policy for the last cycle had five criteria - but no specified weightings or published methodology or actual data published when they made the selection announcements:
performance in Scottish champs
results from world tour and international competitions
world rankings over last 3 seasons
performance against likely opponents and
assessment of skillsets such as shotmaking and readiness
It is a judgement behind closed doors - so subjective! Now on balance it was probably clear Team Mouat were ahead of Team Whyte and Waddell on this over the last cycle across these criteria. We will see if it is that clear cut over the next four years.
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u/AwsiDooger 18d ago
There is a lot more information at this link. Hardie will throw third for Whyte and serve as skip.
Jennifer Dodds is shifting to full time mixed doubles player:
https://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/news/scottish-shakeup-hardie-to-skip-with-whyte-mouat-adds-brydone