HAVING found some touch as a forward and an improving and sufficient match fitness level playing in the VFL at the weekend, Josh Fraser could return for Collingwood against North Melbourne on Friday night.

The Magpies have been loathe to play three rucks in the past, but with Fraser's posterior cruciate injury still restricting the key forward from centre bounces and Collingwood lacking a full-forward, Fraser could be brought back to play from the goal square.

"I am sure that (option of all three talls Fraser, Cameron Wood and Chris Bryan) all playing will be discussed in match committee because he is too good a player to be out of the side for too long," Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh said.

"And the boys playing in the ruck at the moment are going pretty well, so I am sure that scenario would be considered very strongly at match committee."

Fraser injured the posterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the Hall of Fame game for Victoria in May. He continued to play on after that for Collingwood, but was clearly labouring with the injury before finally succumbing and taking a break to recover.

In his absence, Wood and Bryan have played well in the ruck and at the weekend John Anthony kicked two goals at full-forward.

"He wasn't ready to play and he is probably not ready to play in the ruck totally, now but the fact he ran around and got some match conditioning and confidence was what we wanted from it," Walsh said.

While Fraser could return for Collingwood, Shannon Grant is certain to return for North after his exclusion last week for disciplinary reasons for playing up at a club corporate golf day.

North defender Daniel Pratt has been suspended for two weeks by the match review panel, and given that the suspension cannot be reduced with an early plea he has nothing to lose in fighting the charge at the tribunal tonight.