CHRIS Mayne is keen to repay the faith Collingwood showed by signing him as a free agent in the off-season, with the hard-working forward believing the fresh start will be the best thing for his football career.

Mayne, 28, signed a four-year contract, reportedly worth up to $2 million when he agreed to join the Magpies as an unrestricted free agent from Fremantle.

"I'm coming into the latter stage of my career, but I still reckon I've got 4-6 years of good football left in me," Mayne said on Wednesday.

"I've found myself at a team that I'm excited about being part of. It's a young football side willing to learn and work hard every day, and it makes you get up in morning and be excited to go to training, about what the possibility may be.

"I've got four years here, to work hard, and still hopefully a few years after that, so I'll just do whatever I can for the club, play with my heart on my sleeve all the time and just get in there ready to go."

Mayne booted 18 goals from 22 games in his final season at Fremantle. In total he had 172 senior appearances and kicked 196 goals with the Dockers.

The bustling forward, speaking at Collingwood's Australia Post Community Camp in Wangaratta, said he needed a change of scenery after nine seasons at the Dockers.

"I felt like I became a part of the furniture at Fremantle, so I wanted to find another level of my football and find something else I could improve on," Mayne said.

"And to be able to come and learn from the players we have in our team and coaching staff we have, I feel like my football can only go upwards."

Mayne's 2016 output, at least in terms of hitting the scoreboard, was below his expected standard.

However, he said there were elements of Fremantle's game style and the roles he was used in that did not allow him to produce his best football last year.

The move to Collingwood, he believes, gives him the opportunity to flourish and he has already learned plenty after his first JLT Community Series game with his new teammates against Essendon last Thursday.

"I felt like I could be used a lot better (at Collingwood) and be a part of something a lot more powerful in a way of a gun midfield," Mayne said of his upcoming year with the Pies.

"(I) just felt that for myself and my partner to probably find the love for footy again, that it was to come across and be a part of something special."