Why Craig McRae and the Collingwood Magpies are not planning on the return of Norm Smith Medal winner Bobby Hill

Collingwood are not factoring Bobby Hill into their plans for the season, with the small forward still yet to resume training.

The club has not ruled Hill out. But a month out from their first game of the 2026 season, Hill is yet to return to training and there are no indications the 2023 Norm Smith medallist will return in the short-to-medium term as he battles personal issues, according to three sources with knowledge of his situation speaking on the condition of anonymity due to its sensitivity.

Given his open-ended absence, the Magpies can’t plan for him this season, but figure if he gets back this year it will be a bonus.

Hill earns around $750,000 per year and is contracted until 2030 after signing a four-year contract extension in April last year. He had originally been contracted until the end of this year.

Loading

Hill has now de-conditioned to such an extent that he will require months of training to get back to a level capable of playing football, and would then need a period in the VFL before any senior return. Even if he returned to the club in the next week, it would be mid-season at the earliest before he would be ready to play, and there are no short-term plans for him to return.

Hill’s estranged partner, who is now pregnant, is back in Perth. While Hill is living in Melbourne, he is not training. He has regularly been seen out at Melbourne venues.

The club announced in early January the small forward had again taken an indefinite leave from the club after he didn’t return for pre-season training after Christmas. Hill had sporadically trained prior to Christmas.