The Grima family have had their fair share of fame over the journey. Mum Christine Grima represented Tasmania in netball. Dad Monty, played hockey and football – and I’m told was pretty good at the caper – and sister Hollie was part of the Australian basketball team which took both World Championship and Commonwealth Games gold. It was inevitable that the boys would have good footballing genes and Nathan, Todd and Alex all played representative football as juniors, a path that saw them leave their native Tasmania. Nathan extracted everything from his body in a stellar career at North before successful back surgery had Essendon knocking on his door. Todd spent time at Geelong before playing football in a number of states while Alex was on Hawthorn’s list before also becoming a journeyman of sorts.

Since 2013, the name Grima has quickly become part of the fabric at the Strathmore Football Club. In between his sojourn to star in Channel Seven’s The Big Adventure, Todd has become one of the most popular players to don the Gold and Blue, especially among the juniors at the club. Alex has lit up the forward line with his scintillating runs and freakish goals and it was hoped all three brothers could play football together in 2016. This hope is dashed – for now – with Nathan having another chance in the big time.

He may not like the reference but 26-year-old Alex Grima is the class clown of the SFC Senior group. The banter that occurs both privately and publicly usually has ‘Slimes’ fingerprints on it – or as he prefers ‘slimetime’. Indeed when he kicked four goals in one quarter of the Good Friday game against Keilor, it was #slimetime that was trending on Twitter, as we all hope it does many times throughout 2016. When I canvassed the senior group for which player should be next up in the Selfie Series, the first four respondents quickly replied with ‘Alex Grima’. One of those four respondents was Alex Grima. So I tried to get inside the head of our #16 that plays “as close to goals as possible”.

A Fleet Account Manager for Crown Australia, Slime oozes cheek. Indeed it is hard to know when to take him seriously. When I asked him about his history at our club, he told me that he first played in 2014 and chose Strathmore because he “had always admired the way Club Captain Dale May (Dags) had gone about his footy from a young age and wanted to play along side him. My brother was already there also and I had previously had a kick in Tassie, Adelaide and Perth”. Had a kick is an understatement as just like his brothers, Alex can play even though he played down my suggestion that he was the pick of the clan. He certainly has been doing it a long time; “I’ve been playing since I was 7 and I was lucky enough to get my first hardball get last year. I’ve missed plenty of games over the journey, although I always enjoy sitting in the box and Stratty and helping out with the Desire Indicators”. Yep here we go again. Notable Coaches? “No one too notable, however I enjoyed the occasional drink of water that Steve Knight provided over the last 2 years, I was very sad when I heard he was hanging the bottles up.” Career highlights? “Playing along side Dale May (Dags) in the 2014 Premiership at Stratty (really enjoyed letting the hair down after that victory)”. To the (unedited) mad minute:

Favourite movie: Happy Gilmore
Favourite drink: James Boags Premium Lager
Coaches pet: Hamish Mcintosh (Ex North Melbourne and Geelong great (two time all-Australian……squad)
Which teammate spends the longest in front of a mirror: Not sure about mirror but Matty Knight gets a little weird with his photos on Instagram
Tightest teammate: Sean Tighe (occasionally puts his car in manual and rolls down hills to save fuel)
Funniest teammate: Al-Rae some of the stuff he tags me in on Facebook, I’m rolling around on my office floor laughing
Best Dancer: Dance floors aren’t really me scene
Best Golfer: Andrew Horne, I saw him get a par once
Best and worst trainer: Geee Best- Sammy Leach, Worst Possum Young
Best player played with: When Dale May (Dags) is at full flight he’s a pleasure to play with, Really controls the centre square

So there you have it, a Selfie Series with a difference but it is worth adding that young men like Slime are worth their weight in gold, not just on the field but off it. The word ‘culture’ gets bandied about football clubs a fair bit but it is characters like this guy that make those cold, mid-winter training sessions that bit warmer. We hope, just like the Grima boys that all three lads get the opportunity to run out together in the next year or two.