James Frawley has joined St Kilda as a delisted free agent a few months have announcing his retirement with Hawthorn.
The key defender has played 239 games for the Hawks and Demons and was enjoying the early days of retirement before an encounter with former teammate Jarryd Roughead, who currently works for the Saints, lured him back to the game.
“I was in Noosa (after the season), so I had a few too many more beers than I usually would and a couple of meals I wouldn’t usually eat,” Frawley told reporters on Friday.
“I had a few beers with (Roughead) and just got chatting and he said St Kilda might be keen – that was the first I heard of it and I was a bit surprised.
“It pretty much went from there and here we are now.”
On the decision to play on, Frawley said he felt his body could get through the rigours of another AFL season.
“I figured I had a year or two left in me to play some decent footy so when they came knocking I thought it was a good opportunity, so why not?” he said.
“And looking at their list, it’s very exciting, so it was a no-brainer really.”
The 32-year-old’s late uncle Danny Frawley was a long serving captain of St Kilda, making this a special partnership.