Tyson Goldsack believes that correctly a troublesome knee injury now will allow him to play freely throughout the 2016 season.

Goldsack was restricted to light duties at the Maroochydore Multisports Complex as Collingwood trained in front of hundreds of enthusiastic fans.

The defender says he has been forced to take a patient approach after surgery at the conclusion of the 2015 AFL season.

“It’s a tendon issue so it just takes a little bit of time,” Goldsack told the media at Wednesday’s open training session.

“As frustrating as it is, we’ve just got to stay true to the timeline that we’re working towards and hopefully it gets better sooner rather than later.”

While the majority of Collingwood’s list trained strongly in the Queensland sun, Goldsack was left to a series of conditioning exercises on the sidelines.

Despite a minor setback on Monday, he hopes to have the problem cleared in time for Collingwood’s season opener against Sydney on March 26.

“I pulled up a little bit lame after Monday’s session. So I probably didn’t get as much of a load in the legs as I would have hoped today,” Goldsack said.

“I want to knock it on the head now, get it 100 per cent and then push forward from there.

“If it means missing a couple of NAB games then so-be-it.”

After two successive seasons without a finals berth, Goldsack is eager to be a part of a Collingwood team which can return to the form which saw him become a premiership player in 2010.

He believes the Magpies have the desire to not only finish in the top eight, but be successful in September.

“It’s no secret that we’re trying to make finals and push deep in the finals. There’s no use just making seventh or eighth just to fill in numbers.

“We’re here to make a statement.”

The Magpies’ 2016 journey is one that has so far begun successfully on the Sunshine Coast.

After two days of training away from the public, the Magpies today trained in front of a large crowd of Queensland fans.

Goldsack said the encouraging reception from the locals caught the players by surprise.

“We know we’re a big club in Melbourne, but to see this many numbers in Maroochydore is amazing,” he told the local media.

“We’ve been to other places in Australia and we get big turnouts there, but to come into predominantly Rugby League territory and see this many AFL supporters, it’s really good for the game and good for our club.”

The Magpies will train for another two days on the Sunshine Coast before returning to Melbourne.