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Ex-Hawthorn defender James Frawley ends retirement, signs with St Kilda

Hawthorn premiership defender James Frawley has ended a brief AFL retirement and will play for St Kilda next season.

The 32-year-old announced in October that he would be pulling the pin on his 239-game career after stints with Melbourne and the Hawks.

But the Saints have convinced the one-time All-Australian to play at Moorabbin, where his late uncle Danny is one of the club's most revered figures.

St Kilda have secured Frawley as a delisted free agent.

He played 139 games for Melbourne and 100 for the Hawks after debuting in 2007.

Frawley crossed from the Demons as free agent at the end of the 2014 season and played in the Hawks' Grand Final win against West Coast the following year.

He will shore up a St Kilda defence that includes fellow talls Dougal Howard and Jake Carlisle as the Saints look to push on from a semi-final defeat to Richmond this year - their first off-season appearance since 2011.