As a critical season-defining showdown with Carlton looms on Thursday night, AFL side Collingwood will be forced to take the field without one of its most experienced steadying influences, veteran Steele Sidebottom. The club confirmed Tuesday that Sidebottom will miss the high-stakes clash after sustaining a corked hip, more specifically a hip pointer injury, during Collingwood’s recent Gather Round defeat to Fremantle.
Coach Craig McRae opened up about the veteran’s injury status in comments to reporters, confirming the damage proved severe enough to rule Sidebottom out just days out from the game. “You might have saw it right before halftime, he got a heavy knock in the back so he’s limited in movement,” McRae explained. “He had quite a lot of bleeding yesterday, so he won’t play. When you sort of have a shorter turnaround with a six-day break between matches, this week’s training has just been about getting the body moving, so a comeback wasn’t on the cards.”
Sidebottom’s absence has compounded existing pressure on the Magpies, who have already struggled through a rocky start to the 2025? season with a 2-3 win-loss record, largely held back by persistent scoring woes in front of goal. Outside of a solid attacking performance in their recent win over GWS, Collingwood has only managed low scoring totals of 78, 79, 65, and 39 points across their other four matches, leaving fans and analysts calling for a shake-up to the forward line.
Many supporters have pushed for the club to call an early return for exciting small forward Bobby Hill, who has been working through a structured, long-term pre-season rehabilitation plan. But McRae made clear Tuesday that the club will not abandon its carefully laid timetable for Hill, even with Sidebottom out and attacking options thin.
McRae noted that Hill has already made impressive progress through his pre-season regime, with his agility and match sharpness improving week after week. “No, Bobby is on a plan, he’s on a pre-season mode that we’ve got the eye on long term,” McRae said. “You watch him train today and he looks lively and exciting, the agility is back. We’ll just stick to the plan, it’s just exciting to see him improve session after session.”
The coach added that the club is closing in on setting a timeline for Hill to make his return via the VFL competition, as he has now built up three to four weeks of solid pre-season training behind the scenes. “I won’t say (a VFL timeline) at the moment, but we’re getting close to making one, because the body of work is starting to build up now. He’s doing a lot you don’t see out here because he’s in pre-season mode.”
Instead of rushing Hill back, McRae confirmed the club is looking at in-house options to cover Sidebottom’s absence and shore up the forward line. The coach revealed he is considering shifting utility Jeremy Howe into an attacking role, and is also prepared to add young talent Reef McInnes to the senior side after McInnes plays his first full VFL match of the season this weekend.