An AFL legend has warned trade speculation would be “diabolical for your team spirit” at Brisbane, while there’s fresh doubts over Bobby Hill’s future.

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TRADE CHATTER ‘DIABOLICAL FOR YOUR TEAM SPIRIT’

Australian Football Hall of Fame legend Leigh Matthews believes the trade speculation surrounding star duo Lachie Neale and Zac Bailey would be “diabolical for your team spirit” at Brisbane.

Matthews’ comments come after Jon Ralph reported Collingwood was closing in on Neale with a lucrative three-year deal that would see the dual Brownlow Medallist paid $2 million over the first two seasons.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s On The Couch, Matthews said Neale, 33, deserved a three-year contract because he was “playing as well as he’s ever played”.

But Matthews, who coached the Lions to three straight premierships in the early 2000s, said the constant trade whispers focusing on Neale and Bailey – a free agent who’s been heavily linked to the Crows – wasn’t ideal for Brisbane’s playing group.

Bobby Hill has played some VFL games for the Magpies. Picture: Michael KleinSource: News Corp Australia

“The public narrative that Lachie might be leaving and Zac Bailey might be leaving is diabolical for your team spirit, I think,” Matthews told On The Couch.

“Absolutely you’d keep him (Neale). I don’t think there’s any point about him getting pushed out of the Lions, so forget about that one.

“It’s only a question whether a Collingwood comes in with a much bigger offer and maybe he wants to play at the MCG and Anzac Day games, I don’t know.

“But all I’m saying – I know it’s modern footy – but it’s a bad narrative if it hits your club that there’s this public debate mid-season, or that these blokes are probably going.”

Asked if he thought the lure of winning a third premiership would be an attraction to remain at Brisbane, Matthews said: “I think there’s an element once you’ve played in a premiership team … that therefore staying where I want to win another premiership is slightly less a priority for some players who’ve never played in a premiership win. I think that’s a reasonable scenario to balance, on average.

“He just might want to get out of Brisbane for bad memories. Not with the football club but the city.”

PIES ‘BOILING POINT’ LOOMS AFTER STAR’S ‘UNEXPECTED’ ABSENCE

There are fresh doubts over whether Norm Smith Medallist Bobby Hill will play for Collingwood again after he was an “unexpected absentee” at main Magpies training on Monday.

This weekend marks one year since Hill last played a full AFL game, with the premiership Magpie dealing with complex personal issues.

Hill was expected to return to Collingwood this week after spending the past three weeks in WA for the birth of his third child.

But 7News Melbourne reporter Xander McGuire on Monday night said Hill’s absence on Monday was potentially “one too many false dawns” for the Magpies.

“There’s no way to sugar-coat this, this is a setback for Bobby Hill,” McGuire told The Agenda Setters.

“Collingwood is aware his return won’t be linear as he navigates complex personal issues in his own life. But at the same time, time is really running out for Bobby Hill to make an impact and to remain in the standing he is in the AFL right now.

Pies table HUGE deal to lure Neale | 00:48

“As someone who’s been monitoring this story forensically for the last year, I feel like this is actually starting to feel a bit different. It feels like this has almost hit a tipping point, where there’s been one too many false dawns for Bobby Hill. Especially among the playing group, those frustrations are hitting boiling point at the moment.

“It must be said, the Collingwood Football Club is being very understanding of this. They’re willing to go with the two steps forward, one step back, as long as this takes.

“But too often recently it’s been one step forward, two steps back.”

Fellow reporter Tom Morris claimed people both at Collingwood and around Hill were now “seriously questioning whether he’ll ever play for Collingwood again”.

“That is remarkable given he’s contracted until the end of 2030, he’s on $750,000 a year,” Morris told Channel 7.

“At some point, Collingwood is going to start looking for a way out, a way to break a contract and support him on the way through.”