CTV > Scott Burns' Tuesday press conference

THE GAME has not passed Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse, says the club's captain Scott Burns.

Media commentator Robert Walls suggested in Tuesday's The Age that Malthouse and fellow veteran coach Leigh Matthews were struggling to keep up with the changing nature of the sport.

But Burns, 33, believes experience is far more valuable than youth when it comes to managing an elite side, and has thrown his support behind his coach of eight-and-a-half years.

"I really don't understand that at all. I think experience is paramount. It's not as if they've been grabbed out of 1988 and thrown into 2008," he said.

"I just think that you slowly adapt to everything.

"You're not ripped from 20 years ago and just thrown into today in a time machine. You get assistants, you get new blokes in all the time."

Burns also said a lack of leg speed is not to blame for the Magpies' recent drop in form, and doesn't agree with the well-worn excuse for flailing sides.

"To me, it's a very boring argument, because every time you pick up a paper or you hear on the radio, every time a team gets beaten they've got no leg speed," he said.

"You always look slow when the opposition is getting it.

"There's a lot more if you really want to dissect a game of football and see why sides get beaten, it's got a lot more to do with just leg speed."

He also vehemently denied that the Pies' lacklustre performances of the past fortnight have had anything to do with the extensive travel the club did in the pre-season, with the players embarking on a community camp in South Africa and a NAB Cup match in Dubai.

"That annoys me. That was February – it was six months ago," Burns said.

"If you can't freshen up and get yourself right, you're in a bit of trouble.

"We had a pretty hectic workload there for about a month afterwards, but that's just so long ago it's not even worth talking about."

Ruckman Josh Fraser has now played two games in the VFL as he lifts his match fitness following a lengthy knee injury.

Burns said he was unsure how long the former No. 1 draft pick would remain in the reserves, but believes it's unlikely he'll return to the senior side this week because of the Friday night fixture.

"I watched him on the weekend and he only played a half the week before up forward," he said.

"On the weekend, he rucked a bit more and jumped, and he got through, which is good. He trained well today, so I'm not sure which way they're going to go because there's only a five-day turnaround from that reserves game.

"I think the boys, Woody [Cameron Wood] and Chris Bryan are doing really well at the moment too, so whatever happens I'm pretty happy to play with any two."