Victorian powerhouse looming as likely destination for out-of-favour Bulldog

Collingwood is putting together a pitch to attract Bulldogs Rory Lobb across town to the AIA Centre, SEN SA’s Michelangelo Rucci reports.

Lobb’s name has already been raised in trade speculation after spending most of the season to date in the VFL, with Rucci the first to link Lobb to the reigning premiers.

“If we could fast forward to the end of the year, I believe Rory Lobb will be at Collingwood,” he said on SEN SA’s The Run Home.

“I’m hearing Rory Lobb is going to Collingwood… or rather Collingwood is going to make an approach to his management.”

Lobb, 31, has largely been stuck in the VFL in 2024 with the emergence of young pup Sam Darcy complementing star forwards Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Aaron Naughton.

Despite booting multiple bags of goals at reserves level and largely looking a class above, he’s only been called into the AFL side to cover injuries.

The 207cm forward/ruck utility is a proven goalkicker, having booted 36 majors in his final year at the Dockers and 24 in 2023 – his first season at the Dogs.

Lobb’s three AFL games in 2024 have netted a solitary goal and an average of under 10 possessions per game.

A native Western Australian, he began his career at the Giants in 2014 and a trade before the end of his playing days would see him become a four-club player.

Collingwood’s forward depth in 2024 has been tested after Dan McStay’s ruptured ACL last September, leaving Brody Mihocek to carry the Lion’s share inside 50.

One of Mason Cox and Darcy Cameron often rotate forward to fill the second tall role, but Ash Johnson and Reef McInnes haven’t come on as the Pies would have hoped this year.

Beveridge insisted earlier this year that Lobb’s omission from the senior side was just a temporary one.

“As a guy in his early 30s, he didn’t play a lot of footy as a teenager, and if anyone’s gonna have a long career, it’s Rory Lobb,” Beveridge said.

“So I see him as having another half-a-dozen years in the game and I think he’s got a really long period in his career ahead of him.

“And that’s important to remind him of, too - he just needs to persevere through this part.

“He’s absolutely (a) significantly required and needed player at our club and I hope that half-dozen years he’s got left in him are with us.”