Bobby Hill Gone, But Collingwood Won’t Cop the Filth Aimed at Him

Bobby Hill is off. That’s the headline everyone at Collingwood has been dreading for weeks, and now it’s official. But the bigger story out of Olympic Park this week isn’t the exit itself – it’s the club drawing a line in the sand for a bloke who copped absolute filth online for the crime of being a premiership hero.

Carn the Pies, but carn decency too, because what’s happened to Bobby off the field is a disgrace that’s got nothing to do with footy.

The departure itself

Let’s deal with the footy side first. Hill leaving is a gut punch for anyone who was in the stands in 2023 when he tore the granny apart. That performance is etched into Collingwood folklore forever. You don’t forget a bloke who delivers that on the biggest stage.

But footy’s a business as much as it’s a religion, and clubs move players on for all sorts of reasons – list balance, contract stuff, a fresh start. Collingwood have confirmed the exit is happening, and while the details of where he lands next are still shaking out, the writing has been on the wall for a little while if you’ve been paying attention to the list management chatter.

Does it sting? Of course it does. Any Pies supporter with a pulse feels a bit hollow watching a premiership matchwinner walk out the door. But footy moves on, and so do we. That’s the nature of the beast.

What actually matters this week

Here’s the thing though – the exit isn’t actually the most important part of this story. What matters more is what’s been happening to Bobby on social media, and the club calling it out for exactly what it is.

Hill has been subjected to racial abuse online. Let’s not dance around it or soften it with corporate speak. It’s ugly, it’s cowardly, and it’s got no place anywhere near our game.

Collingwood have come out swinging in his defence, and good on them. Whatever your views on the trade or the timing of it all, there should be zero daylight between Collingwood people on this one issue. You do not cop that sort of grub behaviour directed at one of our players – past, present or on his way out the door.

Why the club’s response matters

I’ve been critical of this club plenty of times over the years. Anyone who reads my stuff knows I reckon the umpires have had it in for us more than once, and I’ll die on that hill. But when Collingwood get something right, I’ll say it loud and clear too.

Standing behind a player who’s being racially targeted online isn’t optional, it’s basic. But basic doesn’t always happen quickly or loudly in football, so when a club does step up and say it publically, it deserves recognition.

The message from the club has been unambiguous – Bobby Hill gave everything in the black and white, delivered when it mattered most, and does not deserve to be torn apart by anonymous cowards hiding behind a keyboard. That’s the kind of statement every club in the competition should be making every single time this rubbish rears its head.

The bigger problem across the code

This isn’t just a Collingwood issue, and it’d be lazy commentary to pretend it is. We’ve seen this pattern too many times across the AFL – a player of colour has a bad night, or in Bobby’s case is simply leaving a club, and the trolls come crawling out of whatever hole they live in.

Adam Goodes copped it for years. Eddie Betts spoke about the effect it had on him and his family. Younger blokes coming through now are dealing with the same garbage, just with more platforms for it to spread on.

Social media companies need to front up and do more, genuinely more, not just release a statement every time this happens and then do nothing. The AFL needs to keep pushing too. But clubs backing their own – even players who are literally on the way out the door – sends a signal that this behaviour isn’t tolerated regardless of contract status.

What Bobby Hill actually gave us

Can we take a second and just remember what this bloke did for Collingwood? Because it should of been the only story this week if not for the ugliness that’s overshadowed it.

Hill’s speed and goal sense turned finals matches. He kicked goals when it mattered, he provided that x-factor spark that separates good sides from premiership sides, and he was a genuine matchwinner when the lights were brightest.

You don’t forget players like that. Even as he moves on to pursue whatever’s next in his career, Collingwood fans will remember the moments he gave us. That’s not sentimentality, that’s just fact.

• The 2023 grand final heroics that will be replayed for decades
• His electric speed off half back and through the midfield corridor
• The confidence he showed under the highest pressure

Where this leaves us

So where does this leave Collingwood? A list that’s losing a genuine matchwinner, sure. That’s a real footy problem the recruiting team will need to solve, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of debate on this site and every other footy forum about who fills that creative void.

But it also leaves a club that’s shown, in this instance at least, it’s willing to defend its own even after the jumper comes off. That matters. It sends a message to every kid coming through the system that when you pull on the black and white, this club has got your back – not just when you’re kicking goals in September, but when you’re copping abuse that has nothing to do with footy at all.

I’ll miss watching Bobby Hill play for Collingwood. Definately will. But I respect the club standing up this week more than I can say. That’s the bit worth remembering long after the trade period noise dies down.

Carn the Pies – and carn treating our players, past and present, like human beings instead of targets.