Good to have him at the club, too.

As a Brisbane Lions opponent, Josh Drummond didn't know Grima, but sensed he was a character, the sort of bloke he'd enjoy sharing a beer with. As the Kangaroos' defensive coach, he appreciates the multi-layered package Grima brings.

"Having quality people at a footy club, it creates an atmosphere others want to be part of, where people want to learn and train and enjoy coming to work," Drummond says. " 'Narnie' loves the banter, loves everything that's involved with being in a footy club. But when he crosses the white line, he's fiercely competitive."

This streak was honed in Evandale, near Launceston, among four siblings who grew up pulling petrol at their parents' service station, and pulling no punches in any familial scratch match that featured a ball. Eldest sister Hollie, a world champion Opals basketballer who's now a 30-year-old mother of two, says any form of competition generally ended up in a scrap.

Todd, 27, and Alex, who turns 25 on Saturday, spent time at Geelong and Hawthorn respectively. As younger brothers they ensured these games were played at close to boiling point. Hollie says 29-year-old Nathan was always in the spotlight - generally because he put himself there.

"He's a very confident person, likes to joke around, as most people have gathered by now. He loves being the centre of attention."

Hollie says Nathan had been at high school about five minutes and everyone knew who he was. "Any time someone had to speak at assembly, he was the first one to do it, he'd get up there and make a fool of himself in front of everyone."

He can back it up, too, as demonstrated in an appearance on Before The Game last year in which Grima told of prank-calling their mechanic father, Monty, in the wee hours pretending to be a truckie who'd broken down an hour out of Evandale. Monty Grima dutifully got dressed and headed out on the road, and was searching for the elusive truck when Nathan called back with a gleeful, "Gotcha!"

"When we were living back in Tassie, mum and dad took a lot of phone calls at all sorts of hours. They got used to it," Hollie says. "But he and dad have a great relationship. There's always been a tussle going on between dad and one of the boys."

"He thinks he's the funniest bloke in the world," Todd says of his brother, adding that some people probably agree.

Monty Grima was a ruckman good enough to represent the north of the state, who Todd says was renowned for never giving up. "From what I hear, he was pretty ruthless, hard as nails. He'd just push himself harder than anyone, that's where Nathan got it from."

He calls his brother "a bit of a freak" when it comes to willpower, says he's never met someone who can drive himself to the places Nathan can, aerobically defying his 192-centimetre, 94-kilogram frame.

"I remember a time after footy finished and he wouldn't do a thing for six weeks, then he'd come back and win the three-k time trial. He can just push his body harder than anyone else, he's pretty tough."

The Grima kids were raised to be this way. Todd says if they weren't working they had to be outside playing sport, never sitting inside losing themselves in screens. "Mont's loosened up a lot - when we were growing up he was an absolute hard-arse. We used to hate it - we'd have to pump petrol, clean the rubbish bins, sweep the showroom floor."

Monty and Christine have recently been beating a weekly path to Launceston Airport and across Bass Strait. North's so-far-successful September has been complemented by Todd and Alex winning an Essendon District League premiership with Strathmore last weekend.

The cult of Monty continued to grow in the aftermath, with celebration photos inspiring "Monty needs his own Twitter handle!" posts from his sons' mates.

"Mores" president John Elliott notes that the Grima brothers wear numbers 16 and 17, and that if Nathan (No.17 at North) wants to take the next step in his football, the retirement of Strathmore's No.18 has paved the way. "We'll keep that free for him."

For now he has bigger things on his plate. Drummond says Grima's great asset when he's "on" is not only beating his man but setting up North's defensive structures and helping those around him. Thompson welcomes this.

When you're about to face a forward line featuring Lance Franklin, Kurt Tippett and Adam Goodes, it helps to have a sense of humour and a knack for switching on and going for broke. The funny stuff can wait.