COLLINGWOOD forward Brent Macaffer says the Magpies' round-16 win over St Kilda last year was when he realised he belonged at AFL level after a long battle with self-belief.

The 23-year-old, who will return to the Pies' team this Saturday night against Gold Coast for just his third senior match this season, admits his career until that game had been plagued with self-doubt.

But, his three goal-performance in the 48-point win, in which he played a negating role in attack on Sam Gilbert, was the catalyst for his new found confidence.

"It's fair to say I've struggled with that most of my career, just holding back and not wanting to step on anyone's toes or anything like that," he told afl.com.au.

"The more time I've spent at Collingwood, the more time I've learned to back myself and have a crack, and the rest will follow.

"That happened last year, so hopefully I'll just keep building on that and going forward."

The St Kilda clash made him realise he had to believe in himself more if he was going to last at AFL level.

"Before then I was just really going about it and worrying about myself and just doing my role I was given. I'd played the few weeks beforehand in the VFL and I came back in and thought I really had to take my chance," he said.

"I was able to kick a couple of goals and from there that really gave me a confidence boost and really said to myself, 'I belong here, I can do this'."

After the St Kilda match, Macaffer kicked three goals against Richmond in round 17, and again in round 20 against Essendon.

He also played in the Pies' two Grand Finals and kicked two goals in the premiership win.

Macaffer said the round-16 match helped him to find his niche as a defensive half-forward.

"The coaches really backed me in and kept picking me," he recalled.

"The support from my teammates as well really helped me, and I suppose that's the major thing in my game that enabled me to develop as the season went on and enabled me to stay in the team and be a part of a premiership."

Macaffer's career has been topsy-turvy. He had a terrific 2006 season at TAC Cup level playing for Gippsland Power, leading the competition's goal-kicking and being named at full-forward in the TAC Cup team of the year.

He was drafted by the Pies as a rookie at the end of that year, spending the 2007 season developing for then-affiliates Williamstown. In 2008, he won the Joseph Wren Trophy for the best VFL player.

Macaffer played five senior matches in 2009 after promotion to the senior list, including his Anzac Day debut in which he scored a goal with his first kick, before his dream 2010 when he became a premiership player despite playing through the finals with a groin injury that required frequent pain-killing injections.

This season has been derailed by a foot fracture in round two against North Melbourne, and before that, a limited pre-season because of the recovery from his groin.

He was sent to Arizona last month along with Darren Jolly, Dane Swan and Nathan Brown, an experience he described as "freshening", both mentally and physically.

Macaffer now covets a place in the midfield in future.