Scott Pendlebury will be rested for tonight’s Thursday night thriller against the Hawks after a vintage Anzac Day performance which awarded him with his fourth medal for the occasion.
Collingwood’s clash with Essendon saw the veteran fall victim to leather poisoning, notching up 43 disposals with 19 score involvements – two goals adding the cherry on top.
Fans will have to wait for Pendles to break Brent Harvey’s all-time games record of 432, currently sitting on 431 and scheduled to break it against Sydney in round 10 if he plays next week against Geelong.
Given the Swans-Pies clash is at the SCG, it is more likely than not he will be rested for another week in order to be presented with the accolade in front of the Magpie Army who’ve watched him play for 20 years.
In this scenario, the record will be broken on Saturday, May 23 at a packed MCG in round 11 against West Coast.
1990 Collingwood premiership player Mick McGuane joined Sports Breakfast this morning.
“I’m all about what’s best for the team, and the individuality of accolades somewhere falls in underneath, but I’d certainly be prioritising winning games of footy,” he said.
“If Pendles is right to go irrespective of when that milestone achievement is scheduled to be broken, I’d certainly be playing him in the best team because he’s in good form.
“[If] you miss finals because of that poor decision, as a part of the Collingwood fanbase, or the corporate team, or the sponsors, and even the players themselves, I’d be filthy on the club making decisions based on one man over what’s more important for the team.”
The AFL approved Pendlebury’s request to wear a gold number on the occasion earlier in the week – the achievement one of many to add to his trophy cabinet.
Alongside names like Daicos, Moore, Coventry and McHale, the veteran is in good company leading the club games record by over 100 matches, and destined to become Hall of Fame inductee.
As a club with incredible history breeding some of the game’s most notable players, Pendles will soon be in the conversation as one of the club’s greatest if he isn’t already.
“He’s in the conversation, clearly in the modern era he’s up there with Nathan Buckley. They’re the two most revered players in the last two decades.”
“The Collingwood Footy Club over the history of time have had some outstanding players… Pendles certainly is one of those current-day champions and that has to be held in high esteem.”
Hawthorne will be looking to spoil the party in the build up to the milestone tonight, sitting third with six wins and one loss and making a strong case to sit in the top four come finals time.
Despite doubts during their preseason with Zach Merrett’s trade falling through and Will Day’s shoulder injury, the Hawks are boasting a strong midfield with great efficiency and are capitalising off their pressure game.
“When they bring great pressure, it forces the opposition into mistakes and turnovers, and on the back of those turnovers, they’ve really found a way to punish the opposition… They’re intercept score percentage; they were ranked 12th in the competition last year, they’re currently number one in the comp.”
“When you talk about the ability to score per inside 50, you look at the efficiency aspect. Right now they’ve operated just over one in every two entries. They’re hitting the scoreboard and that’s their best return in that facet of the game since 2014. That’s over 12 years ago, so they’re doing a lot right and Sam Mitchell needs to take a bow.”
Tonight’s blockbuster kicks off at 5:30 with Hawthorn the hot favourites to extend their win streak to seven on-the-trot.
IMAGE: AFL Photos