BEN REID will abandon his swingman role and play exclusively in defence when he returns to Collingwood's senior team.

While the Magpies are encouraged by Reid's fitness, coach Nathan Buckley is putting no timeline on when the injury-prone star will return to senior football.

With teams kicking longer into attack, the Magpies feel Reid will be better served playing as a permanent defender, the position he played in 2011 when he was selected in the All Australian team.

Reid made an encouraging return through the VFL on the weekend, playing about 70 per cent of the match.

"Reidy is an All Australian defender and we think the game is coming back towards his strengths as a defender," Buckley said.

"We also believe we're going to be able to have a forward mix that (will) kick winning scores and trouble defences without him in front of the ball.

"We know that Reidy can play behind and in front of the ball, but our first point of call is to get him fit."

When fit, the 25-year-old is one of Collingwood's most important players.

But he only managed four senior games last year because of injuries and the alarms bells rang even louder at the club in December when Reid suffered a calf muscle strain.

He was soon off to Germany to meet with soft-tissue specialist Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt and Reid has not had a setback since.

"Reidy was an unknown, especially when he hurt his calf again in December," Buckley said.

"We were worried about what the pathways and mechanisms behind his injuries, because they weren't exceptional on their own.

"But the fact they were continuing ... he went across to Germany and was running pretty well a week after the injury."

Two days ago, Magpies football manager Neil Balme said Reid was a 50-50 chance for round one.

Buckley was even more circumspect, wanting to put no timeframe on the defender's comeback.

"It's going to be about how Reidy comes along," he said.

"We're not going to skip any of the steps along the way for short-term gain."

Buckley also said on Wednesday that it would take the first few weeks of the season for Collingwood to find out what veteran Dane Swan is capable of doing.

The Brownlow Medallist is 31 and coming off a season he called "putrid".