 A former pupil of King Henry VIII School in Coventry, scrum-half Grindal made his first-team debut for Leicester Tigers as a 19-year-old and, between 1999 and 2002 made 27 appearances, and was involved in the first-team squad during three Premiership title wins and the back to back Heineken Cup wins in 2000 and 2001, in a golden era for the club.Grindal made a move to Newcastle Falcons, under Director of Rugby Rob Andrew, in the summer of 2002.He made 156 first-team appearances for Newcastle between 2002 and 2009, and won the Powergen Cup after victory over Sale Sharks at Twickenham in 2004.