Collingwood coach Craig McRae has hinted at a potential shorter-than-expected return-to-play timeline for livewire small forward Bobby Hill.
Speaking for the first time since the 2023 Norm Smith Medalist returned to training after an extended period of personal leave, McRae was reluctant to put an exact timeline on his return, but spoke of the positivity about his return.
“To see Bobby smiling is encouraging for all of us,” McRae said.
“To see him fit and well and healthy, he worked really hard inside, we're conscious he's in pre-season mode now but to the eye I think he's a bit fitter than what we thought he would be, so we're excited to have him back."
Asked whether it was a case of weeks, not months, for his return, McRae added: “I probably think so. He's the sort of guy who shines when the balls come out, pre-season's never been his greatest time of year, but I'm happy to update that as we go through in the next period, but it's great to have him back around the club.”
The Pies coach also confirmed that Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore would both return to the side, but didn't rule out slightly managed minutes.
“Maybe not full 100 per cent (game time) because those roles as key defenders usually play 100 per cent – we might (manage them) so we'll see how that plays out,” McRae said.
“I'd like to see ‘Howie' go forward – apparently his GPS (shows) he does twice as much work as a forward but I think he has the capability to swing a bit in games.”
Coming off consecutive 11-goal games and having not breached 100 points since Round 17 last year, the Pies' forward potency
It's been a particular talking point in 2026 due to increased scoring and speed of the game off the back of the rule changes, after the club parted ways with forwards Brody Mihocek and Mason Cox in the off-season.
“I thought our connection inside 50 last game was really poor – we had enough entries. The game before, we connected really well but didn't have enough entries,” McRae said.
“It's a bit of a mixed bag for our forwards, and we got to work in the last couple of weeks on our connection stuff.
“I don't get caught up in the narrative of (failing to reach 100 points,) but we're conscious of improving ourselves. There's two different games right now – the one we played in Round Zero was numbers back and having to defend, and our backs did a great job against the tide.
“The last game was lots of entries and no connection, and you'll find most teams have that, and when you get forward half turnovers, you're going into high density, and we'll have to do that this week.”
“The Giants get their numbers back as well as any team in the competition. We've got to get better at our connection and execution in those phases, so we've got to get to work on those things, but we have to get things moving with our key forward, we'll try a couple of things.”
The coach also addressed Nick Daicos' bye-week trip to Tasmania, where he was spotted with Devils director Roger Curtis.
“It's a great place to travel, Tassie, a bit of bass fishing, a bit of fly fishing, it's good fun. All I'll say about Nick and Josh is they are absolutely thriving in our environment,” McRae said.
“They are really well paid as they should be, they're in career-best form, and they train as good as anyone we've ever had. They're thriving and well looked after, and that's all we can control.
“I speak to Nick regularly about this sort of stuff, and it is what it is. Others are creating this story, last time I looked, he had a four-year contract.”
Meanwhile, forgotten Collingwood defender Reef McInnes will play in Collingwood's VFL clash against GWS on Friday afternoon after an extended layoff with an ACL rupture.
