COLLINGWOOD will match Geelong's plans to field a strong line-up for Friday night's NAB Cup grand final, with the Magpies set to recall a handful of their experienced players for the Docklands clash.

Skipper Nick Maxwell will return to lead the side after being rested last week, with Heath Shaw the only injury concern owing to a tight back.

Forward Anthony Rocca and Paul Medhurst could come in for their first games for the year, but are likely to sit out the decider.

"We've maintained a healthy list through the NAB Cup competition so, with one or two exceptions, we'll be able to field a very strong side," stand-in coach Brad Scott said on Monday.

"We'll meet as a match committee later in the week and decide if we'll rest anyone but we've had a pretty low-key approach with some of our more senior players."

Scott said the strong performances from some of the club's younger players meant the coaching staff had the benefit of taking a cautious approach with star forward duo Rocca and Medhurst.

"We haven't been forced to rush Paul Medhurst back in the side because Brett Macaffer had come up and done a good job," he said.

"We also haven't had to force our hand with Anthony Rocca. We've been able to maintain his progress at a slow and steady pace and get him right for the season proper.

"Those guys will come into consideration, particularly Paul, but we're not in a rush to bring them back in if they're not 100 per cent."

Scott admitted Rocca will face a battle for selection in the first week of the season proper if he fails to play a practice game in the coming fortnight.

"He's going to struggle for round one at this stage but his progress has been slow and steady. He hasn't played any football so it's difficult to see him coming in for round one without playing any footy at all," he said.

"Having said that, we think he'll be healthy enough to do that. It's just a matter of getting some match practice into him.

"We're not rushing his progress. He's running and training; it's just a matter of how he pulls up from week to week."

Scott said Maxwell was keen to return to the side and take the skippering reins back from Friday's stand-in captain Scott Pendlebury.

"It's the first grand final of any sort since he's been captain so I think he's pretty keen to get back in," he said.

"He was the first player to arrive at training this morning and is declaring himself fully fit."

He also said Shaw's back, which saw him substituted during Friday night's semi-final win over Essendon, will be looked at later in the week.

"He's got a little bit of tightness in his back. He's got a history of it," he said.

"He stands up in some of our meetings so he gets a bit of a tight back so we just wanted to take a bit of a precaution there.

"We'll assess his health later in the week, but at this stage, he'd be available for selection but we'll have to wait and see later in the week."