AFTER a gruelling pre-season and a solid opening hitout in the NAB Cup, the last thing on Craig Bird's mind was missing half a season of football.

The 21-year-old had been earmarked as a player to watch after impressing throughout the summer, and his form in 2009 suggested he was ready to become a key part of the Swans' midfield.

But in the week following the Swans' NAB Cup opener against Carlton, Bird noticed a sore spot on his foot after a routine training session.

Little did he know that he was about to begin almost three months on the sidelines.

"I thought I'd get it checked out. They sent me off for a few x-rays and told me that I had a bit of a crack in my foot," Bird recalled.

"It was lucky in a way; I could have broken it and I would have been out for the whole season, so I was fortunate to find it that early.

"We started training in October, so to do all that work and come to the start of the season and get that injury ... it was such a minor thing, but it turned into something pretty serious.

"It was really frustrating to miss so many weeks. I didn't think I'd be out that long, but I've ended up pretty much missing half the season."

Bird made his long-awaited return against Essendon in round 12, in wet conditions that suited the strong-bodied midfielder.

He conceded he was a little surprised at his recall after just one outing in the reserves.

"The coaches said to me that because I was training well and I was pretty fit, if I was in good form in the reserves I was a chance of playing seniors," Bird said.

"I had a pretty good game in the reserves first up, and I was fortunate enough to be back in the seniors straight away.

"I had a little bit of nerves because I wasn't really sure how I was going to go.  It took me a little while to get back into the speed of things, but it wasn't too bad. Once I was back out there, it was okay."

Bird admitted to some first-up rustiness against Essendon, but he was much happier with his 21-possession effort in the Swans' 38-point win over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.

"I was able to find a lot more of the footy; I was running a lot better and I felt a lot fitter out there. I think I'm pretty close to getting back to my best," he said.

"Hopefully this week again I can take another step up and really improve on last week's performance against Port Adelaide."

And there will be no better time to reproduce his best form, as the Swans bid to crack a five-year losing streak against Collingwood that stretches back to round 13, 2005 - when they won by a single point.

Bird, like many of his young Swans contemporaries, is yet to taste victory against the Magpies, and he's desperate to break his personal duck.

"Obviously there's been a big build-up for this game and we've put a massive emphasis on it," he said.

"Something we really want to break is this hoodoo with Collingwood, and there's no better week to do it than this week.

"We've got a new-look side with a lot of players who haven't played with us before. Hopefully we can knock them off."