Grimes, who was appointed co-captain at the start of the year with Jack Trengove, said he was pleased to have played all but one match so far this season - he missed round four through suspension - after averaging eight a year in his first four seasons.
“It’s good to get there. It’s taken a little while, but hopefully it’s the start of a few more,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“I won’t be going into the game with a different mindset or anything like that, but it’s definitely good to get there. For everyone else [like my family and friends] it will be a big deal.
“For a while there, it looked as though it was going to take me 20 years to get.”
Grimes said he was pleased that his body had stood up this year, given he was sidelined from round eight in 2011, due to a foot injury.
“When I first started pre-season, I was still coming off my foot injury, and I remember when I was assessing my goals for this year - that was my number one goal, to play more games than I had,” he said.
“I wanted to play as much as I could, and so far it’s been pretty good and that’s been pleasing.
“I’m building belief that I can handle the stress of AFL footy and I’m feeling really good and the body is feeling good, so I still feel like I could keep playing. It’s great to have confidence in my body and string a few games together.”
Grimes said he had been pleased with his consistency in recent times, which has been a feature of his game this season.
“It’s something I knew I needed to work on a bit,” he said.
“Touch wood, I’ve been out on the park a bit more this year than other years and playing more games - it’s harder to keep being consistent, but that’s been a focus week to week.
“I don’t necessarily go out there to be best player every week, but [I just want] to be consistent, week in week out.
“I’ve moved from half-back to midfield and I really enjoy that role. I’ve really enjoyed it, and I just want to finish the year off strongly and take that into the pre-season and into next year, because it’s so important.”
After Melbourne achieved a 42-point win over Gold Coast Suns at the MCG last round, Grimes said the team has the belief to string two in a row for the first time this season.
Melbourne takes on St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday.
“Whenever you win, everyone is that little bit happier and things are a little bit easier, like the ice baths aren’t as cold - so it was a really good feeling,” he said.
“Coming off a good win, we’re going in pretty positive. The boys have had a lighter week on the track. Their confidence is up, and last time we played the Saints, it was a really good game.
“They got us in the end, so we’ll be hoping we can put up another performance like we did last week and play four quarters - and hopefully get the points.”
