COLLINGWOOD veteran Scott Pendlebury will be managed for this Thursday night's clash against Hawthorn, pushing back the game he will break Brent Harvey’s games-record by at least a week.

The 38-year-old won his fourth Anzac Medal on Saturday after collecting a career-high 43 disposals, 19 score involvements, 15 contested possessions and two goals in the 77-point win over Essendon in game No. 431.

But with a five-day break into round eight, Magpies coach Craig McRae confirmed that Pendlebury will be managed on a tight turnaround, despite moving well at training at Olympic Park on Tuesday.

"Funnily enough, we had a conversation with him yesterday and he was pretty keen to miss this game, so he'll be managed," McRae told reporters on Tuesday.

"38 year olds, five-day breaks, all those things. But it's not a reactant to this game, it was planned to some degree.

"I know certainly the minutes going into the game was something we're conscious of and seeing how he's going and play a bit extra minutes in this game with the eye of not playing next week, but it was never completely ruling him out until the athlete says."

Pendlebury played a season-high 83 per cent game time against the Bombers, including 92 per cent of the fourth quarter, but McRae defended the club's handling of the veteran late in the game and said they didn't consider resting him when the result was beyond doubt.

"No, I think there's a level of what was going well and this guy enjoying the day. I don't want to forecast the future, but it might be his last ever Anzac Day, so to enjoy that whole experience," McRae explained.

"Then athletes in the zone, they're in flow ... there's all that. But ultimately, we listen to our athletes and what they want to do. We never ruled out next week, but it was sort of more leaning towards not playing this game."

McRae wouldn't confirm a proposed date for Pendlebury to break Harvey's record, given he still needs to get through game No.432 first, but all signs now point to the round 11 home game against West Coast at the MCG.

Magpies captain Darcy Moore will return against the Hawks for just his second game of the season after recovering from a hamstring strain against Greater Western Sydney at the end of March, following two calf strains in the pre-season.

The All-Australian key defender would have played on the weekend if not for the five-day break into Thursday night.

"Darcy will play. I said this time last week that we're ambitious that he would play (against Hawthorn) and he will," McRae said.

Bobby Hill will ramp up his game time in the VFL against Box Hill on Friday night after playing managed minutes in his first game at any level since round 21 last year.

McRae said the 2023 Norm Smith Medallist still needs to build fitness and form before he is considered for senior selection and wouldn't put a potential return date on the table at this stage, but the expectation is he will need at least a month.

"He played 40 per cent game time and then he'll play I think 70 to 80 per cent this week. He pulled up well. It was great to see him smile and great to see our fans out here appreciating it. I often say people go through things to be better and he's working through that," he said.

"I'm not prepared to share (when he will return in the AFL). There's an element of he's got to get the kilometres in the legs and the GPS, and then it's about performance. So when he's fit, then he's going to perform. I think there's still a few weeks (before being considered for selection)."

Hill was the final player on the track on Tuesday, still out there with development coaches Nathan Murphy and Dyson Heppell. He then stopped and signed autographs and posed for photos with every fan still waiting at the KGM Centre.