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Hill asks McRae to leave door ajar for finals return
SEN • August 20th, 2025 2:10 pm
Collingwood forward Bobby Hill has asked coach Craig McRae to keep him in consideration for a potential September return.
Hill hasn’t trained this week and has only played one half of football in Collingwood’s last eight games as he deals with off-field personal issues.
Having missed so much conditioning, McRae admits that time is running out for the 25-year-old to get enough fitness under his belt to be considered for AFL selection, with his situation a day-by-day proposition.
McRae revealed he had dinner with Hill on Tuesday night, where he focused on offering his off-field support for the forward.
“I had dinner with Bobby last night,” McRae told reporters on Wednesday.
“As I continue to say, it's a week-by-week, day-by-day thing with Bobby. It's just nice to catch up with him on a social level, just to check in and care for him.
“There are two things that I have always lived by - high performance and love and care.
“I've just sort of left the high performance for now and just making sure the young lad's okay.
“Time is running out on the season and maybe the high performance might be a bit far at the moment, but we'll just take that off the table for now and hopefully he can get back in the club, be happy and then we'll see where we go from there.”
Knowing that the media would ask him about Hill, McRae asked the player himself how he’d want him to address questions around his availability.
While Hill pleaded with the coach to keep the door ajar for a September return, McRae’s immediate focus was on his day-by-day wellbeing.
“I said to him, 'How do you want me to answer that?'. He goes, ‘Oh please, just leave a little bit of hope there for me’, but he's well aware that time's running out and getting enough load and then to be available,” McRae said.
“Then I stepped straight back into love and care and said, ‘Mate, let's just get you right day-by-day’.
“It's private, it's personal. I'm sure you've probably done your own research, reading and digging to find out, but at the end of the day, the young lads got a lot on his plate.
“So, I go to care and to make sure he's okay. I don't have answers, but I do have a heart that's open to listen and day-by-day, we hope he gets better.”
Collingwood will be without Hill when they face Melbourne in a huge clash that could land them a top four finish at the MCG on Friday night.
