After what he thinks was too much, too soon, suddenly Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell feels normal again.

The defender believes he returned to AFL too quickly from injury - a heavy pre-season hit that left him with internal bleeding from his kidneys and a calf injury limiting his involvement.

But Maxwell believes his last two hitouts against Adelaide and West Coast have sharpened him to near full fitness for the much-anticipated grand final rematch against St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday night.

"In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have come back when I did - I came back a bit too early," Maxwell said.

"The last two weeks I've started to feel myself again, started to run on top of the ground a bit more.

"For four weeks I was wondering why I couldn't get a kick, why I felt like I was stuffed every time I tried to run.

"I'm just happy to feel normal again."

The Magpies face St Kilda with both teams having contrasting seasons.

Collingwood have lost just once and sit second on the ladder, while the Saints have struggled badly and look longshots to even make this season's finals.

Ruck-forward Leigh Brown looms as a likely inclusion for the Pies after overcoming a calf problem which has sidelined him for the past two matches.

The Magpies also had good news on defender Ben Johnson's troublesome hamstring.

Scans this week show Johnson hasn't re-torn the muscle after another injury playing for Collingwood's reserves last weekend.

Maxwell said Johnson only had hamstring tightness, and despite the setback should come into contention in a fortnight to return to senior football.

"He'll probably struggle to come up this week given he only played a quarter, but he'll definitely be in the mix for next week, especially given we've got nine days until the next game (against Melbourne)," Maxwell said.

Maxwell also defended his heated three-quarter-time exchange with team-mate Heath Shaw during the big win over the Eagles as proof of the Collingwood back six's standards of excellence.

"That is why we love Heath so much because he is so passionate about our footy club and wanting to win.

"I've since shown him the footage (of what they were arguing about) and we're both right.

"That's why we think it makes us a good backline because we hold each other accountable."

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