New Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has backed Andrew Krakouer’s off-season, saying the forward needed downtime in the wake of his momentous comeback.

Buckley said the plan was for the 28-year-old to be at peak fitness ahead of this year’s finals.

His strong support was in response to talk that Krakouer might have needed to work on his fitness after taking a break.

But Buckley said Krakouer’s time away from training had been invaluable.

Krakouer was one of the great AFL stories last year, making his comeback with the Magpies after serving a 16-month jail term in WA for assault.

“You can only be up for so long,” Buckley said.

“The players still need to be able to fill the tank because by the end of the season, it’s empty.

“There’s no doubt `Krak’ had been up for a long time and he needed to go away and fill the tank a little bit.

“That off-season was really important for him, just to take stock, and he’s on the way back and going well.”

Buckley also noted that as soon as competitive ball work had started, Krakouer’s competitive instincts had shone through again.

“He is training okay, but he still has a fair bit of work to do,” Buckley said.

“We have had some boys on restricted programs with injury – he had a few little concerns.

“We want him to play his best footy at the pointy end of the season because that’s when he is going to be most important to us.

“He will have a run around in the NAB Cup and he will be up and about for selection, but he’s on his own program.

“As soon as you start ball work and scrimmaging he is phenomenal.”

Meanwhile, Buckley has praised two-time All-Australian Alan Didak, saying his pre-season had so far been outstanding.

After finishing fourth in the club best-and-fairest two years ago, Didak struggled last season with injury and below-par form.

“He’s probably exceeded expectations in many ways – he’s had a very consistent pre-season,” Buckley said.

“The body is in good nick, the mind is in good nick.

“He’s looking forward to probably getting some momentum early in the season to counteract the way last year ended.

“There’s no reason at this stage why he shouldn’t have the confidence to start the year well, given he’s been easily among the top three trainers on the track this pre-season.”

Buckley said there was “no reason” why Didak could not return to his 2010 form.