Nathan Grima has finally earned a recall to AFL football, some 10 months after prematurely retiring from the game.
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The one-time Evandale junior is set for his Essendon debut on Saturday afternoon against Sydney at the SCG.
Grima had succumbed to a bulging disc and a third back operation, forcing the former North Melbourne defender to call it quits in July last year.
The 30-year-old had been recruited as one of Essendon’s 10 top-up players for Bombers serving 12-month bans for their involvement in the club's controversial supplements program.
“He was in pretty good shape – he was aiming to play footy this year, so he’d done a bit of work,” Essendon coach John Worsfold said on the club’s website.
“We did have to spend a bit of time building him up. He’s now had a number of weeks of footy under his belt and we feel he’s ready to go.”
The 192cm Grima, who will wear the unfamiliar number 55, was named at full back to be given the hard task of manning either Kurt Tippett (203cms) or Lance Franklin (196cms).
He has played several stopping jobs in the VFL that include holding Collingwood out-of-form forward Travis Cloke to two goals in a Bombers’ 85-point win.
Grima had played 87 games for the Kangaroos from 2009 until 2015.