Did Collingwood make the right call to face 2025 season with a dozen players over 30?

Collingwood is set to enter the 2025 season with nine players on their list over the age 30.

The club re-signed Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Jeremy Howe during the week, to go with Mason Cox, Jamie Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Tom Mitchell and Jack Crisp who already had contracts. Darcy Cameron and Dan McStay will join them in the 30-club in 2025 as well.

Kane Cornes believes they made the right call given their lack of draft picks this year, but they will need to be careful not to lose a handful of players at once.

“There may not have had another option. They’re not blessed with a number of draft picks. They’re going to struggle to replenish the list this year,” Cornes told SEN’s Sportsday.

“So they’d probably go ‘okay, Sidebottom played some good footy at the end of the year’, they’d take some confidence out of that. What a consistent star he has been.

“I’m not certain on Mason Cox, I think they probably need to move past him from what I saw this year.

“I’m not sure about Tom Mitchell and whether he can get back and be a part of this midfield.

“But everyone else is in reasonable form. Jeremy Howe finished the season in reasonable form.

“They’re just going to have to try and stagger the retirements so you don’t lose nine at once.”

Collingwood holds picks 32, 48 and 50 in this year’s draft as things stand given they traded their first-round pick to Fremantle for Lachie Schultz last year.

Geelong currently has 11 players on their list over the age of 30, with Tom Hawkins and Zach Tuohy set to retire and question marks around a few others.