MCUE hope to lure Jack Collins back into fold after he stars in Ainslie trial

Although a well understrength Goannas outfit were beaten by around 13 goals, the performance of Collins and youngster Bailey Jones were two of the biggest positive to come from their first hitout of the year.

Now based in Sydney, Collins played a big role on the wing for MCUE in coach Jeremy Rowe's first year in charge in 2019, and Rowe said it was clear he had added layers to his game after his standout display on the weekend.

Collins has played over 100 games for the club in and on-and-off stint at the Goannas.

"We're still trying to convince him to come on board for us this year, but he played the best football I've seen him play," Rowe said.

"He's still tossing up whether the travel back is something he can fit into our busy schedule.

"I know that sounds like a bit of a big call in a trial but he played a lot through the middle on the weekend and won 50-50 footy, but also bobbed up in the right places around the ground.

"It was notable his footy was a bit advanced to what I expected."

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Jones' chances at senior level have been hampered by injuries, but an overdue chance for a strong summer training program has him set to make the next step.

"I was really happy with Bailey Jones' game. We'd been happy with the pre season he's put in, which is his first full one for a couple of years," Rowe said.

"He played down back and gave us a chop out in the midfield. As far as youngsters go he was our strongest performer."

MCUE leaked eight unanswered goals in the first quarter against Ainslie, but were far more competitive after the first break.

"Trials are there to learn and improve. We could learn a bit from their proactivity off the footy, and how they worked hard to get into positions where they could influence the contest," Rowe said.

"It was something we discussed and definitely want to learn from. At quarter time there was a threat we'd be wiped off the park, but the three quarters after that we were really happy with our resilience.

"We left the game thinking we got a fair bit out of it. The guys showed some resilience, but also the ability to learn and improve on the fly."

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