AFL 2025: Collingwood’s main session on Friday will paint a clearer picture of selection for next week’s preliminary final

The preliminary final availability of Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe will become clearer after an important training session under lights on Friday. Howe injured his adductor in the final round of the home-and-away season and has been racing against the clock to be fit for the Magpies’ premiership push. He was involved in Collingwood’s light session on Tuesday afternoon but was listed by the club as one to two weeks away. Howe is confident he can return to face the winner of Brisbane and Gold Coast next week provided he gets through Friday’s session. “That’s (play next week) the plan, is that a good enough answer? I guess for me, from diagnosis to where I am now is chalk and cheese,” Howe told Triple M’s Mick in the Morning. “I’ve had a really good fortnight, the boys getting the result last week was critical for me to make sure I can get an immense amount of work in which I’ve been able to do. “Then we’ve got a massive session tomorrow night (Friday). “For me at the moment, it’s a matter of getting healthy, getting right, being eligible to train fully and that will be the plan from tomorrow night and put myself in a good position for next week.” Howe’s adductor injury came in his first game back from a brutal concussion against Hawthorn a fortnight earlier. He collided heavily with Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe and was taken from the ground in an ambulance. Howe says he has so far escaped any long-term issues from the hit. “To be knocked out cold … this one probably looked way more severe. I guess it was more brutal … Newcombe has got a pretty hard head on him,” Howe said. “He just got me in the right spot, hence why it dropped me pretty easily, but I guess I recovered from it. “I had a really good chat with the doc and he goes, ‘As bad as they look, it doesn’t mean your recovery has to be equally as bad’. “I had a rough probably 24 hours, didn’t feel great, (felt a) bit scattered but I bounced out of it really, really well.” Howe may not be the only selection headache facing Collingwood coach Craig McRae next week, with small forward Bobby Hill also pushing his case for a return. The Norm Smith Medal winner hasn’t played a full game for the best part of three months but returned to training in recent weeks. Hill played in the scratch match between Collingwood and Geelong’s reserves on Saturday and booted four goals. Howe says Hill is doing all the right things but his selection will ultimately come down to one question. “He’s been back in the club on a bit more of a consistent basis which is what we’re after and what we want,” he said. “It just becomes a question of, ‘Have you done enough?’ So the conditioning side, understanding where we are in the season and what these games look like. “It’s just a matter of have you done enough.”