Three months on the sidelines is enough to infuriate any footballer but add the looming possibility of being out of contract and Nathan Grima could have been forgiven for letting his frustrations boil over.

The popular key defender admits the temptation to rush back early from a foot injury was always on his mind, due to his contract status.

"You want to always handle and rehab an injury based purely on the best for your health," Grima told NMFC.com.au.

"It is hard because you think the worst and always wonder what could happen if I got injured again.  

"It's hard mentally to know you feel that if you get one more injury or don't get back in time that it could affect your career. But every player goes through this sort of thought process at different times and all I'm interested in is making the most out of this season."

Grima has battled through more than his fair share of injuries, but says he's always prepared for seasons and games as best as he could.

"I know a lot of North supporters see me as injury prone and maybe that's a fair assumption. But I know I've done everything in my power to get my body right for AFL footy.

"My aim is to play on for as long as I can at the football club and show the club that I'm worth hanging on to."

However while Grima was candid about his frustrations, he was much happier talking about playing - his first action since May 4.

"It's always exciting to get back and play after a long layoff," the key defender said.

"I'll no doubt be a bit rusty considering I've been off my feet for probably 10 of the 12 weeks. Just to get back and play will be nice."

Considering his injury history, the fact Grima has been off his feet for so long could cause some alarm bells to ring.

However the veteran has no worries about getting through the game.

"With the fitness and medical staff, they wouldn't put me out there unless they were 100 per cent confident I was ready - which I am.

"It's more when you have a layoff for a period of time you get a bit heavy in the legs and muscles which is normal. So it's about getting through that in the first week or two and trying to build some conditioning and form so I can put my hand up for selection."

Looking back at different stages of the season, Grima reflected on his promising start before it all went downhill.

"I started the year in what I thought was reasonable form.

"I knew I'd been a little bit sore in the foot in the lead up. For probably two or three weeks I'd gradually got a little bit sorer and sorer.

"Through conversations with the medical team, we knew it was something we'd have to keep an eye on and I might have to miss a few games at some stage.

"As it turned out hopefully we've got it completely right. That'll enable me not only to get back playing, but also to train on a weekly basis working towards my best form."

With those struggles now behind him, Grima is raring to add to his 79 senior games as soon as possible.

"Before I stopped playing I was on a bit of a limited training, but now the foot feels the best it's felt in about 12 months.

"There's still a lot of time left in the season so I know I can get it to 100 per cent with the aspirations of playing either in finals or multiple finals."