COLLINGWOOD swingman Tyson Goldsack has all but ruled a line through a late-season return to the field, and is yet to decide if he'll pursue another contract as he enters the second month of his knee rehabilitation.

The 30-year-old premiership player was dealt a cruel blow in March when he partially tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in the Magpies' JLT Community Series match in Moe.

The long-term injury came on the back of Goldsack's first surgery-free pre-season in five years, where he'd trained with both the forwards and defenders after playing 20 games in a career-best 2017.

As the Pies prepare for their annual Anzac Day clash with Essendon, Goldsack is four weeks into his recovery from surgery, and starting to work on building up his leg muscles again.

While running is still a little while off, he's back in the gym doing leg weights and riding an exercise bike after the traditional reconstruction using a tendon from his quad on March 22.

While the 161-game veteran is committed to attacking his rehabilitation as hard as possible, he's realistic about the fact he's unlikely to make a late comeback this season.

"The chance of coming back this year is slim to none," Goldsack told AFL.com.au this week.

"I'm pushing to run soon, but I've got a lot of time on my hands so there's no real rush.

"I get a little bit bored when I get stagnant, so I want to keep things progressing along and get it as close to good as soon as possible.

"They say the sooner you come back the more dangerous it is for a re-rupture, so we'll just take our time and get it right for next year."

What happens next year for Goldsack remains up in the air.

Goldsack isn't contracted beyond 2018, and understands the club's position in wanting to wait and see how this season pans out before making a call on whether he gets another deal.

Coach Nathan Buckley said last month the Pies would like to think they'll support Goldsack and allow him to "have a real crack at finishing his career the way that he would wish".

While Goldsack initially declared he wanted to play on, he is now comfortable with shelving talks between his management and the club until he's deeper into his rehab.

"I don't want to push it so soon after surgery. I want to get to 6-8 weeks post-surgery and assess where I'm at mentally and physically, and then we'll go to the discussion table after that," he said.

"We'll work it out. There's no pressure from my part or theirs.

"I still wanted to play on [after the injury], I don't want to finish my career on that note. If it does, it's been a great 12 years … but again I'm happy to play on.

"We've got a lot of time on our hands, so we'll just cross that bridge when it comes and go from there."

Goldsack will keep himself busy away from the club over the next few months with his health drink company Utonic, and has plans to travel to Europe with wife Chelsea and eight-month old daughter Harriet.

He's also embracing the opportunity to help coach the Pies' forwards, a career path he never thought he'd entertain.

"I thought it would be a little bit of an overload of football. I didn't know if I would be that much into it, but once you take the playing element of football away, all of a sudden it opens up a new space," he said.

"It's amazing, you see the game a little bit different. If you can help someone out who's still playing, it's pretty rewarding.

"Defence is my forte, so it's about bringing in defensive elements into our front half mainly and doing a bit of one-on-one work with some of the younger blokes.

"I'm just starting to get stuck into that now and it's exciting, it gives me a really different look at the game."