AFTER easing his way into the season, Josh Fraser is starting to hit his straps for the Magpies and while he’s happy to be finding the ball more often, he’s more excited about the brigade of Collingwood youngsters who have helped the club to five wins from seven matches.

The impressive start to the season flies in the face of the gloomy predictions from some quarters earlier in the year, and Fraser says the ability of the Pies’ first and second-year players to have an impact has been one of the keys.

“We didn’t pay any attention to what the so-called experts had to say about us leading into the season. I can understand why some people could have thought we might slip back a bit this year, but we had confidence in ourselves and what we were capable of,” he says.

“The performances some of our younger guys have put in have really been a positive for us. Dale Thomas and Scott Pendlebury have continued to progress in their second years and then you get guys like Shannon Cox, Alan Toovey and Brad Dick come in and have an impact as well.

“They add a real sense of enthusiasm to the side and when they’re contributing it takes some of the pressure of the older guys, so you get guys like Tarks playing as well as he has been.”

Fraser, 25, played arguably his best game against arch rivals Carlton last week, finishing with 19 disposals, seven marks, 24 hitouts and two goals, but he’s just happy to be a part of what he feels is a strong ruck division.

“I had knee problems in the three or four weeks leading up to the start of the season which didn’t help at the start, but now I’m reasonably happy with the way things are going,” he says.

“I’ve been getting around the ground okay and managed to go forward and kick a few goals in the last couple of weeks.

“Chris Bryan has added another dimension to our rucks – as you saw against Adelaide he can kick goals against you – and Guy Richards can really come in and fill a role too, so I think our rucks are really healthy at the minute.”

Fraser believes the main challenge that lies in front of the surging Pies is helping the more inexperienced players maintain a consistent level of performance. Coach Mick Malthouse is also well aware of the issues associated with keeping a young group up and believes versatility is the key.

“What we’re trying to establish here is players like Alan Toovey, Harry O’Brien, Scott Pendlebury, Dale Thomas etc is we want them to be able to play all over the place,” Malthouse explains.

“I haven’t seen it written but I can assure you that Pendlebury and Thomas have played cameos in the back half this year, they’ve both played in the middle and they’ve both played forward.

“I think it’s so important now that you develop a well-rounded player, they’re not going to be the best in all at this stage but down the track you’d like to think they’ve got the capabilities to be pretty special in any one of those roles.”