Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Howe to return, small forward in doubt for Hawks clash
Luke Mathews • August 5th, 2025 4:00 pm
Collingwood have been struck down by illness with Norm Smith medallist Bobby Hill in doubt to face Hawthorn on Thursday night at the MCG.
The small forward made his return from personal absence last week as the sub against the Lions and finished with one goal and four touches from just 31% game time.
McRare confirmed Jeremy Howe will return from a groin injury sustained in the loss to the Gold Coast while Billy Frampton is also in the frame to make a return.
“Bobby has got gastro,” McRae told reporters at the AIA centre on Tuesday morning.
“It’s a bugger, we’d love to keep him moving, it’s just unfortunate so he may be in doubt, we’ll have to see how he goes in the next 24 hours.
“Jeremy (Howe) will definitely play, he got through today well and is excited to play.
“Billy’s (Frampton) name will come up in consideration as well, I loved his game at VFL.
“The week before was about getting minutes, this week was about performance, and he performed well."
After sitting on top of the ladder for most of the year, the Pies have slipped to second having lost three of their last four including a 27 point defeat to Brisbane last week.
Despite having just three games left of the home and away season, McRae was still very optimistic that the side would be able to turn things around before the finals.
“My initial thoughts on seeing us was that we did a lot right,” McRae said
“There are little parts of our game that we are getting feedback around, that we’ve just got to keep tidying up.
“I stand here much rather getting those lessons learnt now then in three or four weeks time.
“Opposition last week smashed us at contest and clearance, mainly in the second half, so that comes at a cost with us to lose territory.
“We got a bit stuck with our ball movement, so there are little things that we can look at straight away and go, we can fix that.
“The exciting thing with our group is that we have got strong leaders that want to get better every day, so they are driving agendas around that.”
The Pies will be hoping to get their season back on track when they face Hawthorn at the MCG on Thursday night.
