A FIT and firing Nathan Brown says he's ready to take control of Collingwood's backline after Nick Maxwell's retirement and the expected move of Lachlan Keeffe to attack.

Brown, 26, missed all but three games last season after his latest long-term injury – a second dislocation to his right shoulder in round 10 – forced a reconstruction.

After a strong and uninterrupted pre-season that basically kicked off in September before he went on holiday, Brown is on track to play in the Pies’ NAB Challenge games.

And, he wants to take ownership of their defence with Maxwell gone and Keeffe spending the summer training with the forwards.

"[Maxwell's retirement] has given me the all-clear to take over the backline and lead there, which in turn will make me a better player," Brown told AFL.com.au.

"We do have a young group and the backline has been fantastic this pre-season and (there is) a real competitive nature every training session against the forward group.

"It's been great and they've been really great to work with."

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Brown's shoulder reconstruction took place at the end of May after the win over West Coast.

From there, he spent the next few months recovering and building his strength, which culminated with a strong training block in September ahead of their best and fairest on October 3.

He went away on a break when the rest of the players did, but because he was able to consolidate his rehabilitation during the finals, he went straight into the main group when training resumed.

"I haven't really missed a session this pre-season, which is good [because] I can get the miles into the legs and the hits into the body," he said.

"My shoulder's been fine from the get-go.

"I've been matching up on most of the big fellas in pre-season, like Trav [Cloke], and it's had a few big knocks and a few good spoils, and it's fantastic.

"I'll obviously have to have it heavily taped as a precaution for the rest of my career but as long as it stays in, that's the good thing."

Brown was announced as a member of Scott Pendlebury's five-man leadership group on Thursday and will share vice-captaincy duties with Cloke, Steele Sidebottom and Tyson Goldsack.

While he could be forgiven for feeling nervous about throwing his mended shoulder back into the rigours of AFL football, he said he would enter the season "pretty confident" it would stand up.

"The most times I find myself getting injured is when I haven't had a full pre-season or a clear run at it," he said.

"With my body, it's when I'm coming in a little bit underdone and trying to play catch up.

"I think this year I've had that time towards the end of last season and then pre-season this year just to get to the goal with the weights and the fitness guys to not become anything massive or fast.

"They just want me to become indestructible to make sure I'm always out on the park so I can get that consistency into my game again.

"Now I'll try and keep the momentum going from pre-season all the way into NAB Challenge and unless 'Bucks' has other plans, I'll be putting my hand up."

Nathan Brown is a $142,000 defender in NAB AFL Fantasy this year. Create and fill your AFL Fantasy Classic league by March 2 to win a free AFL Live pass.