Collingwood star Bobby Hill currently isn’t in the club’s plans for the 2026 season.
The Age’s Michael Gleeson is reporting that the small forward is yet to resume training, following a battle with personal issues across the second half of 2025.
The club announced in early January that Hill was taking indefinite leave away from Collingwood to deal with these issues, after sporadic appearances at training pre-Christmas.
READ MORE: ‘Blown the roof’: Hinkley predicts star to join $2m club
READ MORE: Star defends ‘tired’ Blues after embarrassing viral video
READ MORE: The thin ice holding up AFL’s State of Origin revival
Bobby Hill of the Magpies high-fives fans. Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos via Getty Images
While no official line has been put through him for 2026, there is also no timeline on his return to the club at this stage.
The report says the Pies simply cannot plan around his availability, given it will first take months to get his fitness levels back to AFL standard, upon his eventual return, due to his significant absence.
He may then have to spend a block in the VFL on top of that to prove himself ready for selection.
With all this in mind, he will struggle to factor into the first half of the season, at a minimum.
Hill played 14 games in 2025, featuring only once after round 15, with the club citing personal reasons. He kicked 20 goals.
The 25-year-old attempted to prove his fitness for the club’s finals series, but was ultimately overlooked for the prelim loss to Brisbane.
Bobby Hill of the Magpies celebrates winning the Norm Smith Medal in 2023. Getty
He is a proven star on the biggest stage, winning the Norm Smith Medal in the Pies’ 2023 grand final victory.
Hill was rewarded with a contract extension through to 2030 in April of 2025, reportedly on as much as $750,000 per season.
His partner, Georgia Devlin, moved back to Perth in 2025, while Hill himself remains in Melbourne. They have two children together. Devlin has announced she is currently pregnant.
“We care for Bobby and his health and wellbeing remain the priority as he continues to work through his personal situation,” Magpies executive general manager of football Charlie Gardiner said in January.
“While on leave from the AFL program, we will continue to support Bobby so that he can be in the best possible position to return to the club in a full-time capacity when appropriate.”
Hill has had a rocky journey through his career, battling testicular cancer while he was at GWS at just 22.