NORTH MELBOURNE defender Nathan Grima will miss the rest of the season after suffering a foot injury in the club's win over Essendon last weekend.
Grima will go in for what the Kangaroos insist is 'very minor' surgery, to remove a piece of floating bone.
North Melbourne director of medical services Steve Saunders has told the club's website there was a risk in leaving the injury to heal on its own.
"That little bit of extra bone has been there for a long time but has never given him any trouble," Saunders said.
"So what's happened is, he's landed awkwardly, irritating the joint and the bone. It's quite painful for him.
"It's unlikely to settle within four to six weeks and there's every chance going forward, we could get part-way through the next pre-season and have the same thing happen to him again.
"It's a smarter move to have a little procedure now rather than hope the injury settles by itself and doesn't happen again."
Grima will have the operation in a bid to be fit and ready for the pre-season.
"It's very similar to a procedure Levi Greenwood had a while back and it enabled him to have a full pre-season, so we anticipate the same out come for Nathan," Saunders said.
On Friday, North announced Grima had signed a new one-year contract, putting an end to speculation about a possible change of clubs.
