COLLINGWOOD ruck Darcy Cameron has been cleared to face Geelong on Saturday night, while small forward Bobby Hill is edging towards an AFL return in the coming weeks. 

Cameron, 30, passed a fitness test at Olympic Park on Thursday morning after injuring his ankle in last week's draw against Hawthorn at the MCG.

The reigning Copeland Trophy winner was cleared of structural damage last Friday, but is still dealing with soreness ahead of the blockbuster clash against the Cats. 

"He'll play," Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirmed at the KGM Centre on Thursday. 

"He's got a little bit going on with his body, but he's fit and available."

Six-time All-Australian Scott Pendlebury will return for his AFL games record-equalling match after being managed on a five-day break in round eight, following his phenomenal performance at the age of 38 to win a record fourth Anzac Medal. 

Veteran defender Jeremy Howe was also rested on the tight turnaround, following an injury-interrupted start to 2026, but the Tasmanian will boost the Magpies' defence, while Beau McCreery is also available after missing due to general soreness. 

Hill trained with the VFL program under lights on Wednesday night but missed training on Thursday morning due to illness. 

The 2023 Norm Smith medallist has played managed minutes in the reserves across the past fortnight, playing under a half against Essendon and then closer to three quarters against Box Hill last Thursday night, where he kicked three goals and was involved in a few others in a step forward. 

McRae has stressed for weeks that Collingwood won't rush Hill back into the team until he is ready, following a challenging 12 months for the West Australian due to personal reasons. 

"I wouldn't have thought so (this weekend). I think Bobby's progressing. I'll leave it up to high performance for when he's fit and available. I think he's still only played (managed minutes); he didn't play a full game last weekend. As much as we'd like what he's doing on the field, he's still got a lot of work to do," McRae said.

"We're anticipating that (he will play a full game on Saturday in the VFL). He hasn't trained today. He trained last night with the VFL. He's been a bit ill this week, so we're anticipating that, so hopefully he trains tomorrow and plays a full game.

"He is closer than he was two weeks ago. That's obvious to the eye. He has been out of the game a long time, so he is working towards that. Some of it's performance, some of it's his ability to get through a full game, which he isn't quite doing yet."

McRae said Collingwood would remain active in the trade and free agency space this October, amid interest in dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale, pointing out that his role in acquiring talent was to ensure the brand is appealing to targets.

"We have a monthly meeting where I'm very active," he said.

"We want to bring new players in, whether it's Lachie Neale or whether it's Nate Caddy – I saw his name mentioned, we can just throw any name out there, can't we? Who wants to play for Collingwood? – I just have to play my part, which is put a good product on on the weekend so players feel like they want to come and play for us and be an attractive destination."

Collingwood's interest in Neale makes sense, given the Magpies are ranked No.18 for centre clearance differential in 2026 and were smashed at centre bounce last Thursday night 19-5 against Hawthorn.

McRae said the Magpies are focusing on improving their work at clearance right now. 

"We're getting to work hard on that (clearances)," he said. "Forward 50 is an issue. Centre bounce has been an issue. We're getting to work hard. We're not standing still. I think you've seen growth in our game and our connection inside 50 the last few weeks by just subtle little things. It's a moving beast because every team you play is different in some areas. But yeah, we're getting to work hard on that."