If I were asked to highlight one moment from the career of Scott Pendlebury that accurately reflected the type of player he was, I am not sure I could do it.
I mean, how do you isolate one great moment when he did what others could not so routinely?
For me, the memory of Scott Pendlebury that will last the most is his ‘Top Gun’ tactic, where he’d play the role of Maverick, and just apply the brakes, allowing the rest of the game to flow right on past him. It was like he moved the game in slow motion, but only as far as he was concerned, and everyone else could not adjust to the pace before it was too late. How many times did you see him do that? Raise the footy as though he was going to handball, take a half step one way, only to pull the ball back and take off in the other direction. It would leave the opponents either flat-footed, running past him, or worse, going the complete opposite direction.
Pendles has been making fools of his peers for years, possessing the ability to find time when there was seemingly none to be found. His silky skill and cerebral application of footy tactics have made him the player that you simply cannot hate – and given he plays for Colliongwood, it is as though he has done the impossible in that regard.
Approaching game 400 in what will go down as one of the greatest careers of all time, Pendlebury has a strong claim on being the greatest of all Magpies.
His opposition would include his old coach, Nathan Buckley, legendary goal-kicker Gordon Coventry, and perhaps even the Macedonian Marvel, Peter Daicos. However, with 400 games now backing up a Norm Smith Medal and two flags, Pendles’ claim is becoming difficult to dispute.
After all, I have never seen any of the others mentioned bounce a footy on a pigeon and have it come right back to his hand as he ran through the centre of the MCG, have you?
At the time of writing, Pendlebury is the all-time leader in the following statistical categories.
Disposals
Handballs
Tackles
Uncontested Possessions
He also sits in the top five for the following stats
Goal Assists (2nd)
Contested Possessions (2nd)
Clearances (5th)
Inside 50s (5th)
Whilst we have to consider that some of the stats were not around when players like Leigh Matthews played the game (he’s the Wilt Chamberlain of the game in terms of stats…), Pendles has excelled in so many areas of the game, that there will come a time when people use these numbers as a basis to argue his case as one of the best to ever do it.
This weekend, he becomes the sixth man to register 400 games at the highest level, joining luminaries such as Kevin Bartlett, Michael Tuck, Dustin Fletcher, Shaun Burgoyne, and Brent Harvey. And with Pendles already committed to go around again in 2025, who knows how long he will play for?
Some of the players who have achieved game-based milestones have limped to the line over the years, and without disparaging their achievements, seemed as much to be playing for the milestone as they were for the team.
Pendles is most definitely not in that basket.
After a start to the season that had some (the usual suspects… not hard to decipher who they were) questioning his decision to play on in 2024, the former Pies skipper responded in the way that you’d expect, with a three-game stretch where he averaged 26.7 disposals, 5.3 clearances, and a goal per game. Not bad for an old bloke.
And the Pies won all those games.
As a Non-Collingwood fan, I have no attachment or sentimentality to the game this weekend. I have no emotional investment in the contest, other than to watch a true champion of the game do what so few have done before. That his 400th game comes in what is a massive clash against the old rival, Carlton, should only add to the spectacle. The Pies are desperately clinging to their finals chances. The Blues are sputtering, after looking like an assured top-two finisher just a few weeks back.
The MCG will once again morph into the heaving, roaring cauldron as the Pies and Blues lock horns – it is the type of scenario where a champion thrives. Is that stage set for one last Pendlebury masterclass?
Does he have it in him?
And can the Pies rally around the man that very well may be their greatest ever player?
Win, lose, or draw, watching Scott Pendlebury has always been a pleasure for football fans. Even when he was Top-Gunning your team, there was always an appreciation of the way he went about it. He was silky, classy – he was a footballer’s footballer.
And as we enter the true twilight of his illustrious career, I urge you to take a step back, watch the maestro go to work, and enjoy every single moment we have left with this man on the footy field.
Joni Mitchell once sang that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. But I reckon footy fans are savvy enough to know what they have when it comes to Pendles. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Congrats on 400, Scott.
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