TV Wrap: Cooper Hodge trains with Hawthorn as he battles tug of war for services, Daicos brothers cop the flu

And the ‘tug of war’ emerging over the services of the son of a Hall of Famer.

Here’s everything you missed on Tuesday’s footy TV wrap.

Pies running hot... fevers

Collingwood is confident its sick stars will be fit to face Gold Coast despite the illness that sidelined Steele Sidebottom is sweeping through the club.

Sidebottom said he was “the first to go down” on Monday’s On The Couch program, with several stars missing the first training session ahead of Friday’s blockbuster.

Superstar Nick Daicos did not train, while his brother Josh Daicos was a late scratching from Fox Footy’s AFL 360 programming on Tuesday night.

Skipper Darcy Moore was due to replace his fellow defender on the show, however he was also pulled from the runsheet.

There has been illness sweeping through the club in the past few weeks, starting with Steele Sidebottom who had the flu and was managed from the Carlton game.

While several stars did not make an appearance on the track as the club manages the spread of the flu, but Sidebottom did train in promising signs he would make a return to the senior side.

Collingwood has been able to rest and manage sore or unwell players throughout this season as it surges towards a top-two finish and another deep finals run.

Marshall on the move?

There is a growing expectation that Rowan Marshall could be on the move at the end of the year despite holding a contract at St Kilda for another two seasons.

This potential move only occurs if current Blue Tom De Koning cannot resist the $1.7 million offer to change clubs and move to Moorabbin.

It would leave the Saints with $2.5 million dedicated to senior-quality rucks on its books, not dissimilar to Fremantle’s Luke Jackson and Sean Darcy.

There was debate on Agenda Setters as to whether the pairing of De Koning and Marshall could work.

“He’s not a forward though,” Dale Thomas said.

“The sell is going to be ‘50/50 ruck’... De Koning doesn’t really play forward.

“Marshall has kicked six goals this year as a ruckman, sometimes in that forward line, I don’t think that works with the mix they have either.”

Marshall has played in a dual-ruck setting before, having spent three seasons with Paddy Ryder, while De Koning has spent time across the past few seasons lining up alongside Marc Pittonet.

Mitch Cleary linked Marshall to Brisbane, Carlton, Essendon and Geelong as potential suitors if he was to leave.

The potential move was also discussed on the Midweek Tackle, with Scott Gullan saying he “can’t blame Rowan Marshall” for exploring his options.

“He turns 30 in November, still got a couple of good years,” he said.

“I’d be surprised if he was there.”

Bombers investigation after injury-riddled campaign

Essendon has vowed to share the deep-dive investigation into its crippling 2025 injury crisis with its players in an attempt to cool any angst on the issue.

This masthead understands the Bombers’ chief executive Craig Vozzo will hand down his report on the club’s program within the next month.

Glenn McFarlane reported on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle that Vozzo is currently looking into all aspects of the club’s fitness operations including staff, facilities, ground operations, preseason structures, post-Christmas activities, five-day break preparations and dealing with the bye.

Essendon is fully aware there had been concerns from some players about the continual injury losses that have pushed Brad Scott’s team to the brink at times this season.

The Herald Sun reported this week that unrestricted free agent Sam Draper has real concerns about the club’s fitness program, and what it might mean for him as he considers offers from Brisbane and Adelaide.

The Bombers believe if they can placate the players by keeping them as informed as possible, it might alleviate some of those concerns.

Some players expressed their frustrations off the back of a Saturday morning bye training session that saw Darcy Parish, Kyle Langford and Mason Redman all suffering injuries.

The club has acknowledged its performance in this area has not been up to scratch, a fact that they have made clear to the players in ongoing conversations.

But they have also committed to enhancing and reshaping the program for 2026 and beyond following on from Vozzo’s investigation, which has been made in consultation with the senior coach.

Changes will be made to the program heading into next year but the club has no plans to warehouse some players for the remainder of the season as a precaution.

The club has already resurfaced one of their ovals at The Hangar and plan to do the other following the season as part of a scheduled upgrade, but believes the surface has not been the cause of the high number of injuries this season.

‘Tug of War’ emerging over father-son

Hawthorn still has a real chance of landing the son of a club legend and 300-gamer.

As bizarre as that sounds, Hawks fans know they are battling to earn the services of Cooper Hodge, son of premiership captain and dual Norm Smith medallist Luke Hodge.

The son of a gun was at Waverley Park for the second consecutive day and was involved in drills as he continues his bottom-age season.

Hodge is a Lions Academy member, meaning he could nominate to play for either Brisbane or Hawthorn in the 2026 draft in a similar fashion to Sydney’s Nick Blakey, who was eligible to head to North Melbourne as well.

“There’s a tug of war going on between Brisbane and Hawthorn, Hawthorn hasn’t given up just yet,” Glenn McFarlane said.

“I really hope that he goes to Hawthorn, but I think it’s line ball at the moment, it’s very close.”

Originally published as TV Wrap: Cooper Hodge trains with Hawthorn as he battles tug of war for services, Daicos brothers cop the flu