COLLINGWOOD midfielder Luke Ball will use the latter half of this year to determine whether he will continue his career next season.

 

The 30-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of this year, will take the time to assess his playing future at the end of the season.

 

But how he performs in the coming weeks and finals will tell the tale.

 

"We'll sit down at the end of the year and see how I'm going, see how the team's going and make a decision then," Ball said at the Westpac Centre on Friday.

 

"I'm not too fussed about that at the moment. I'm just fussed about getting the side back on track.

 

"There's probably a few guys in that boat in our team and also across the competition, so that's a fair call."

 

Ball returns to the Magpies' side to face Essendon this week, after a calf niggle kept him out against Gold Coast last Saturday evening.

 

"I should be ok now," Ball said.

"It'll just be about managing workloads, which most guys tend to do.

"It hasn't been too bad ... I can't complain too much. We've got guys that have had worse runs than me." 

Nick Maxwell will also line up for the Pies after making a successful return from a calf injury in the VFL last weekend.

"He just shores up the defence a bit ... he's an experienced player and an underrated player," Ball said.

"Maxy was playing really well before he got injured. He's been pretty frustrated and itching to get back."