COLLINGWOOD'S backline faces a major challenge in its season opener against St Kilda, with key defenders Darcy Moore and Jeremy Howe both "unlikely" to feature.

Magpies coach Craig McRae said the club was taking a cautious approach with the pair's calf injuries, indicating neither will be rushed back for the blockbuster Opening Round clash against a new-look Saints at the MCG.

"They're both unlikely to play early in (Opening Round), but they're maybe touch-and-go for a little bit after that," McRae said on SEN on Wednesday.

"But they're both progressing well, they've just had recurring calf injuries, which is just part of our learning around their bodies.

"But they won't play early in the season."

Speaking at AFL Captains Day on Monday, Moore indicated that his recovery was tracking in the right direction but said there was still ground to make up. 

"Have to map out loads and that sort of stuff with our high performance team, but it's looking pretty good," Moore told reporters on Monday.

"I had a minor calf niggle in January, I've been on a bit of a modified training program, building up. But I had a really big last couple of weeks with training loads and stuff, so feeling really great and the body feels ready to go."

Meanwhile, McRae said Bobby Hill's wellbeing remained the club's priority as the Magpies balance supporting the star forward personally with the expectations of elite performance.

The 2023 Norm Smith Medallist took a leave of absence in January to deal with a personal matter and has been away from the club since the Christmas break.

"Bobby is working on himself at the moment. We're hoping that he'll be in the program in the short or medium term. We'll see how that progresses," McRae said.

"But I think there are two parts to this situation … I want to be a coach, and we want to be an environment where we just love and care for our people, all our people, from players to staff, and then there's the high-performance part.

"But we'll continue to love and support him, and at the right time, get him in the environment to push forward for high performance.

"I've been speaking to him regularly, yesterday even. I'm constantly talking to Bobby.

"It's probably a bit too early to say (when he’ll return), but we're confident that it's progressing."