AFL 2025: Collingwood star Bobby Hill to pause contract extension talks
One of the heroes of Collingwood’s 2023 premiership was expected to seek a raise and an extension this summer. Now, those talks could be pushed past the 2025 season.
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Norm Smith medallist Bobby Hill has parked talks on a new contract with Collingwood as he zeros in on having the best season of his career in 2025.
Hill is contracted at the Pies until the end of 2026, so there is no rush to sign a new deal, but early talks had begun last year before being shelved.
This masthead reported last year the 2023 grand final hero was eyeing an extension and was paid only around league average on what emerged as a bargain contract for Collingwood.
The former Giant will instead aim to get a third full season in a row under his belt before a new deal, having never played more than 17 matches in a year before joining the Pies before 2023.
Hill bagged a career-high 33 goals in the premiership year – including four in a Norm Smith Medal winning effort in the grand final – and followed that up with 30 majors last year.
That was enough to win the club’s goalkicking award as the Magpies fell out of the finals but it was only an OK season for Hill, with many expecting him to make a leap after his 2023 finale.
He did, however, dish out 23 direct goal assists, good enough to rank him 12th in the AFL last year.
Hill swapped management groups midway through last year, leaving Andrew McDougall at Corporate Sports Australia for Anthony McConville’s Macs Sports.
Reports from the west linked Hill to wanting a trade to a Perth club last year but that proved to be unfounded as he remained committed to Collingwood.
The Pies managed to land Hill in late 2022 only after a request to join Essendon the year before fell through, with GWS refusing to deal the small forward.
Collingwood managed to muscle in on the electric forward as a final touch on a flag winning side, with Hill also claiming the 2024 mark of the year award for a screamer against North Melbourne.
Hill, who will turn 25 in February, has played 88 AFL games and inspirationally fought off a bout of testicular cancer in his time at the Giants.
He is one of only a handful of Pies under 25 who are first-choice players, alongside the likes of Nick Daicos, Beau McCreery and Isaac Quaynor.
Collingwood spent big on free agent Giant Harry Perryman and Port Adelaide rebounder Dan Houston in the off-season and has committed to continue big-game hunting to stay in a flag window.
Unrestricted free agent to-be Brayden Maynard will be pursued by rivals should he not land a new deal during the 2025 season, while most of the rest of Collingwood’s out of contract players are veterans such as Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Jeremy Howe and Tom Mitchell.
Collingwood will join most AFL clubs in returning to pre-season on Thursday.
Originally published as AFL 2025: Collingwood star Bobby Hill to pause contract extension talks
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