Collingwood veteran Tarkyn Lockyer believes Magpies star Anthony Rocca is a strong chance to return on Friday night for his first AFL match in almost 10 months.

The big 31-year-old forward last played at senior level in round 13 last season before being sidelined to have ankle surgery.

After gradually regaining fitness over the pre-season, he showed solid form in the Collingwood VFL side's win over Geelong on Saturday, taking six marks and kicking three goals.

Lockyer said it definitely put Rocca in contention for Friday night's clash with Brisbane at the Gabba.

"He played three quarters or something like that and got through unscathed," Lockyer said on Tuesday.

"He's been up and about, you would have seen him out on the training track, he's been quite lively and he's looking pretty fit.

"So I daresay he'll be well and truly in the mix to play."

Meanwhile, Lockyer said goal-kicking was a focus this week after the Magpies wasted an early advantage against Geelong last Thursday night by spraying numerous shots.

Lockyer was one of the main culprits, along with ruckman Josh Fraser and utility Leigh Brown, who each kicked 1.3 for the night.

"I always love kicking goals, I always concentrate on trying to kick them and not miss them but unfortunately that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes," he said.

"No side goes out there to miss goals, clearly, but it's one of those things that turns into a bit of an epidemic amongst the group.

"The confidence drops a bit and you just need someone to kick one.

"We've done a bit (of extra practice), not a hell of a lot more than we usually do, but certainly it's been a focus."

The Magpies will go into Friday night's match without skipper Nick Maxwell, suspended for two games over a rough conduct charge.

It could have been reduced to one match if not for a prior offence, and he has already faced the tribunal once this season, being handed a four-match ban in the pre-season, which was overturned on appeal.

But Lockyer said there was no need for the captain to change his ways.

"He plays a very physical type of game and the one percenters and all that type of stuff he's won those awards for us in the last three or four years," he said.

"So certainly as a captain we love the way he goes about it with that sort of stuff, but it's also the other stuff that he brings to the table that you don't see out on the ground that makes him so good.

"I personally don't want him to stop playing the way he plays because I think that's what makes him such a good player and so valuable for the team."

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