COLLINGWOOD has ruled Bobby Hill out of Saturday’s preliminary final, but Brody Mihocek has been cleared to face Brisbane at the MCG.
The 2023 Norm Smith Medallist has played only once since round 15 due to personal reasons, but the door had been left ajar after training consistently this month.
Magpies coach Craig McRae informed the small forward before training on Thursday that there wasn’t a spot for him just yet, given how much game time and training Hill has missed over the past few months.
“Bobby won’t play. We made a decision on that, so he won’t play this week,” McRae told reporters at the AIA Centre on Thursday morning.
“It was really difficult. I told him before training based on a lot of little things. It’s the reality with where he’s at right now with his preparation.
“Credit to him he trained really, really well, which shows how far he’s come in the last period. He is working hard to come back in. This is not permanent, but this week he won’t play.
“There is a selection integrity part of it. Always when you go to match committee there is an integrity part of it with form and other parts of it, then there is the high-performance nature of it and then there’s the tactical part; what does the team need right now for certain roles?”
McRae didn’t rule out picking Hill for next weekend’s Grand Final if Collingwood progresses past Brisbane. Hill produced the best performance of his career in the 2023 Grand Final win over the Lions.
“I don’t want to take away hope from the young lad,” McRae said.
“He is progressing towards that. I mentioned that to him: keep training well, keep turning up, keeping being present, keeping getting better every day. There might be a world where (we need him in a grand final).”
Mihocek dislocated his toe in the qualifying final win over Adelaide at Adelaide Oval and barely trained last week.
Brody Mihocek during Collingwood training at Olympic Park Oval, September 16, 2025. Picture: Getty Images
But after training fully on Thursday, McRae confirmed that the key forward has been cleared to play on Saturday.
“Brody will play; it’s hard to keep him out of the team. He trained well this week and will be fit and available,” McRae said.
Veteran defender Jeremy Howe trained fully on Thursday morning, but Collingwood is yet to make a decision on his selection.
The 35-year-old tore his adductor in round 24 and has been subbed out of his past four games, finishing his last game on June 28.
“We are going to go to match committee and make a decision on him,” McRae said.
“We need to weigh up whether he’s fit to play or whether he’s fit to perform. That’s been our mantra throughout the year based on the lessons of last year. The high-performance team will present those numbers in front of us and we’ll work through that decision.”
McRae said Collingwood has a plan in place for Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews, after the triple All-Australian terrorised Ben King and Gold Coast in the semi-final.
Key defender Billy Frampton famously played a defensive forward role on Andrews in the 2023 decider, restricting his influence in a pivotal move.
“We’ve always got a plan for Harris, whether we start that way or we go to him when he is hurting us a bit much,” McRae said.
“He is such an incredible intercept mark and sets up a lot of their defence. We’ll be no different this time, we’ll have some sort of plan around what his influence can be.”
Collingwood was restricted to just 20 points after half-time against Brisbane in round 21 – their lowest second half of 2025 – on a Saturday night where Logan Morris kicked six goals at the other end.
The Magpies had won the previous four meetings between the two sides, including Easter Thursday this year at the Gabba. Now they meet for the fourth time in a preliminary final or Grand Final this century.
