‘Grounds to terminate’: $5.1m of deals set to be ripped up as Cats, Pies negotiate exits for troubled pair

Two contracts worth a combined $5 million are set to be torn up, with Collingwood’s Bobby Hill and Geelong’s Tyson Stengle both set to depart their clubs.

Neither of the troubled goalsneaks have played at AFL level this year due to off-field issues, both having recently signed life-changing contract extensions.

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

Hill has $3 million left on his contract which runs until the end of 2030, while Stengle has another three years left on a deal worth an estimated $2.1 million.

But multiple reports on Tuesday suggested the Magpies and Cats are in negotiations with their respective players, seeing them leave mid-contract, leaving their AFL futures uncertain.

“This is the crunch month. The next four weeks could be really defining for Bobby Hill, and this is a $750,000-a-year contract that’s still got four years to run,” Lauren Wood said on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle.

“Does it become a retirement? Does it become, thanks for the memories, here’s a bit to go on with?

“This is where things are going to get really interesting with managers, clubs, potentially with lawyers getting involved.”

Hill has appeared infrequently at Collingwood training throughout the year, coming and going from WA while making a few VFL appearances, with coach Craig McRae saying he “hasn’t seen Bobby in the building for a while”.

Stengle, meanwhile, is back living in South Australia.

“Clubs are not charities, as (Geelong coach) Chris Scott said a couple of weeks ago in his press conference,” Jon Ralph said on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle.

“They probably have grounds to terminate this deal; they probably would say to themselves, the more we give him, the less we give to players in a premiership race. It’s gonna be a real challenge.”

It’s expected both players will reach financial settlements.

“There are certain facilities with the AFLPA but their view would be, the reason we have guaranteed contracts is because it’s the only protection mechanism for these players. They don’t get amazing payouts post-career, and so they’ve fought so hard for it,” Ralph said.

“A lot of people out there would say both Bobby and Tyson haven’t played a lot of football recently, let’s just sack them. So there are protections for the right reason there.

“In the case of Bobby, he signed that four-year extension in April 2025, he played seven more games in that season. He still had 18 months to run on that contract. His contract was about $4 million and he’s played seven games in regard to it.

“So I’m sure they’ll (Collingwood) drive a hard bargain, but they’ll also realise the humanity of this is both Tyson and Bobby are gonna have a long time to live. They’re gonna need some money, they’re gonna be in desperate straits, and so I think those clubs are really well-placed to balance a bit of that but realise we’re also not going to give them the full contract.

“It’s not like Steven May, who was keen to play on, these guys have shown that unfortunately for whatever issue that we won’t delve into, they aren’t equipped to be professional enough to play AFL football.”

Hill, 26, won the Norm Smith Medal in Collingwood’s 2023 Grand Final triumph having missed most of the prior season due to testicular cancer.

Stengle, 27, was picked up by Geelong entering the 2022 season after a troubled two-club start to his career, and immediately became a premiership player and All-Australian.

Click here to read article