COLLINGWOOD star Steele Sidebottom may not play again this season after Monday night's game against North Melbourne.
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Sidebottom will leave the Pies' Queensland hub after the clash with North to join his partner in Melbourne as they expect their first child.
Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said on Saturday that Sidebottom had made the decision "about a month ago" and it was unclear whether the star midfielder would be able to return to the hub after the birth.
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NB: Steele made the call with Alisha about a month ago that he was going to head back home. He’s got an exciting period of his life coming up. We don’t know if he can return or not. It’ll depend on Alisha and the bub. There’s a bit unknown. pic.twitter.com/kYNQLUSIHa
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) August 22, 2020
Under the AFL's COVID-19 protocols, agreed with the Queensland Government, any person from interstate must quarantine for 14 days before joining the high performance hubs.
Sidebottom's partner, Alisha, is reportedly due to give birth on September 12. The final round of the home and away season is scheduled around September 17-20.
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And in other selection news, key forward Brody Mihocek won't play against North Melbourne after failing to recover in time from a nasty concussion suffered against Melbourne last weekend.
However, Buckley confirmed lively forward Jaidyn Stephenson would return after missing the round 12 loss to the Demons, while defender Jordan Roughead would also be available after recovering from a head knock sustained in round 11.
