TYSON Goldsack has issued a pre-season challenge to teammate Jordan De Goey, saying the talented young Magpie is "definitely not as fit as he could be".
However, the veteran Pie believes De Goey will be "ready to go" for the season opener on March 24 after an interrupted pre-Christmas training block.
"He's getting there," Goldsack said on Thursday, when asked if De Goey was one of the young players who had benefitted from a strong pre-season.
"He's definitely not as fit as he could be, but he is learning himself how fit he can be.
"In another four or five weeks, he'll be ready to go."
De Goey had hip flexor surgery in August that ended his season early, but was training freely in early December.
However, he was forced to back off his training load in the lead up to Christmas after a training knock unsettled his repaired hip.
AFL.com.au understands the setback wasn't serious, but it was enough to derail his program and means he'll more than likely be unavailable for AFLX on February 15.
Goldsack said the 21-year-old was among the emerging Pies with the ability to tear 2018 apart if he could find consistency.
"He's one of them. He's shown in games how tough and how good he can be, and he just needs to bring that week in, week out, like the rest of the group," Goldsack said.
"It's that consistency we lacked for four quarters in every game."
The former No.5 draft pick from 2014 didn't play until round seven last year after being sanctioned by the club for lying about how he sustained a broken hand.
De Goey injured the hand, requiring surgery, in a bar fight in March. He initially told club officials he'd hurt himself in a freak accident involving his dog and a door knob.
The injury kept him out for the first three rounds, before his three-week club penalty kicked in.
He went on to play 14 games before the hip complaint ended his year, and found form towards the end of season after a strong round 15 performance against Hawthorn.
Meanwhile, Goldsack said the Pies were aiming high after four consecutive seasons with no finals.
He said there was excitement about the positional changes the team was working on, which included the move of Darcy Moore to defence with Ben Reid and Mason Cox to play as the forward line focal points.
"Anything is possible, absolutely anything," Goldsack said.
"We showed in our games last year that we can match it with the best teams – we just coughed up a few games against the lower teams on the ladder at the time, and we just can't afford to be doing that.
"We're definitely setting our sights high.
"We know we've been saying the same thing for the last few years, so definitely finals – let's get to finals first and then how far into finals we go, time will tell."
