Collingwood star Bobby Hill and his partner Georgia Devlin have welcomed a baby daughter, Hazel Hill, following a high-profile split that shook the AFL world last July. Hill continues his campaign to return to the field after taking personal leave.
A Sunday Instagram post shifted the story for Collingwood star Bobby Hill and Georgia Devlin from heartbreak to cradle-joy. Devlin revealed the couple are now the proud parents of a “perfect little girl” after she gave birth to their daughter, Hazel Hill.
Devlin shared a series of photos of the newborn on Instagram. One image showed Hazel with her two brothers, Bobby Junior and Malakai, captioned “My world!!” with a love-heart emoji.
For Hill, the announcement lands as he keeps pushing to return to first grade after taking personal leave from the Magpies during the off-season. His bid to get back on the field has been unfolding against the backdrop of a split that rocked the AFL world and dominated public attention.
The breakup came to light last July 2025, after Hill had failed to play for Collingwood for several weeks. The Magpies refused to comment at the time. Hill and Devlin’s social media activity did the talking: their relationship breakdown shocked the AFL world as Hill’s usually vibrant Instagram feed went quiet. He removed nearly all photos of his partner and their two young sons, Bobby Junior and Malakai.
Signs of separation deepened as the couple unfollowed each other on Instagram and the tags they previously used to identify one another in photos disappeared. Even now, at the time of writing, Hill and Devlin do not follow each other on Instagram. Devlin’s post announcing Hazel also did not tag Hill, leaving the relationship status publicly unresolved despite the baby news.
Long before the Hazel announcement, Hill had stepped away from footy. He embarked on a five-week hiatus that coincided with Devlin and the children returning to Western Australia. During that time. Hill shared an emotional public post about missing his sons. marking the first visible sign of the breakdown.
In the post, Hill shared an image of himself with his boys and wrote: “Gonna miss you guys. Dad loves yous.”
Hill returned briefly for the Magpies in Round 21 against Brisbane last year, only to be ruled out again the following week with illness. As questions mounted, he did not travel with Collingwood to Adelaide. Earlier, there had been reports that he intended to join the squad.
Around the same period, Hill’s cousin Bradley Hill reportedly contacted Collingwood out of concern. The intervention was said to have created a rift within the family.
As Hill’s absences stretched, concerns about his wellbeing intensified. Veteran journalist Caroline Wilson later revealed that there were days Hill had been uncontactable. “I do know that his family is really worried about him, his friends are really worried about him,” Wilson said.
Hill had not resumed full training with the Magpies by February this year, and speculation followed that he might sit out the entire 2026 season. But on May 13, Collingwood coach Craig McRae offered a more hopeful update after Hill played a full VFL match, a sign he was working his way back.
McRae described Devlin as Hill’s “partner. ” seemingly confirming the couple are back together while he acknowledged the looming birth of their third child. “Obviously not being able to train with all the family stuff is important to prepare to play,” McRae said. “We wish them [Hill and Devlin] well and we’ll see how that goes in the next couple of days.”.
McRae also explained why Hill was not being considered for first grade selection at that stage. Hill “wasn’t quite meeting” the fitness levels required to land a spot in an AFL match.
That point proved crucial again on Saturday, with Hill not selected in the team that beat West Coast in club icon Scott Pendlebury’s record-breaking 433rd AFL match.
Hazel’s birth adds a new chapter to a storyline that began with a public split and widened into questions about Hill’s mental and physical readiness. The Magpies star now faces a different kind of pressure — balancing family responsibilities and the steps he still needs to take to be ready to return — while the AFL world watches the same question it has been asking for months: what comes next for Bobby Hill. and what his return to Collingwood will look like.
Bobby Hill Georgia Devlin Hazel Hill Collingwood AFL Magpies Caroline Wilson Craig McRae Scott Pendlebury West Coast VFL