On the comeback trail from a knee injury he suffered in the opening NAB Cup match, Grima trained strongly with the main group on Friday but club medical and fitness staff have elected to treat him cautiously ahead of the first match of the Home and Away season on March 31.
“He could’ve played this week but we wanted to give him some extra time and get some more conditioning into him,” North director of sports science and rehabilitation Peter Mulkearns told kangaroos.com.au.
“He declared that he was available but we want to him to have that extra week.”
With his left knee heavily strapped, the 26-year old wasn’t hidden away at training and was matched up on Drew Petrie for much of the afternoon.
“He’s moving really well and trained yesterday as well. He has moved beautifully and efficiently in this session particularly,” Mulkearns added.
But despite the decision not to play him in the VFL, Grima will still be considered to play the Bombers.
“He’s obviously in the mix because he’s one of our most important players but it will depend on how he trains now and pulls up really. We will be monitoring him very closely up until that time.”
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