Injury and Immediate Impact
Scott Pendlebury's glittering Collingwood career could be over after the AFL/VFL games record holder suffered a hamstring injury. The 38-year-old will miss up to three weeks, ruling him out of at least next week's historic wildcard match, as reported by ABC Australia.
Pendlebury was ruled out in the second quarter of Friday night's 63-point loss to Brisbane at the MCG with what Collingwood initially described as a "knee bursa". Scans on Saturday revealed a hamstring strain that will sideline him for two or three weeks.
The injury comes at a critical time for the 21-season veteran, who is yet to decide if he will play on in 2027. Collingwood will play next weekend in the AFL's maiden wildcard weekend, and Pendlebury's absence is a significant blow to their finals campaign.
In an added setback for the Magpies, tough defender Brayden Maynard suffered a knee injury at training and is in doubt to return this season, no matter how far Collingwood progress in finals. Maynard's scans confirmed a grade-one MCL strain, according to ABC Australia.
"These are obviously disappointing setbacks for both Scott and Brayden," Collingwood football boss Charlie Gardiner said. "These are unfortunate setbacks especially at this time of year, but Scott and Brayden are absolute professionals and will do all they can to get back as quickly as possible."
The Selection Controversy
The injury has reignited debate over coach Craig McRae's decision to field key players in the final round. On Fox Footy's First Crack, former Geelong premiership player turned commentator David King labelled the decision not to rest key players a "grave error".
"I think the Collingwood Football Club have made a tremendous error by saddling all their players up on the weekend," King said. "We talked about it all week — in a meaningless game, in the end, Brisbane won by 10 goals plus. What's the point of playing everyone?"
McRae had said pre-game on Friday that after "weighing it up", his stars "wanted to play" against the Lions, despite the fixture not impacting Collingwood's looming wildcard date at the MCG. King said he "couldn't believe" Pendlebury was named to play, citing the veteran's injury history over the season, which included multiple games out.
King argued the club should have been stronger, saying "our resources must go to wildcard over and above Round 24". Leigh Montagna, also on First Crack, admitted he was "surprised" Collingwood didn't manage more players, adding "they missed a trick as well".
Collingwood did manage the game time of some players: Nick Daicos was taken off the ground for the last quarter, as was Darcy Cameron, while Isaac Quaynor, Patrick Lipinski, and Maynard were managed on Friday night, according to ABC Australia. However, Billy Frampton played almost the whole game.
Future Uncertainty and Club Interest
Pendlebury, who is out of contract, is keen to play on in 2027, though there are different views within the Collingwood setup as to whether he is worthy of a list spot, as reported by 7NEWS Australia. The uncertainty has attracted interest from rival clubs.
Essendon made a play for the left-footer, though it was knocked back, while Gold Coast is understood to have expressed interest in the two-time premiership player joining as a free agent. According to ABC Australia, Pendlebury has also received an offer from Gold Coast to be effectively an on-field playing coach next year.
The Agenda Setters host Craig Hutchison has floated a left-field option for clubs to secure Pendlebury as a player-coach in a creative salary cap arrangement. Hutchison believes a club could entice Pendlebury as an assistant coach, but on the playing list.
"It's really clear. The only way a club can afford him as an assistant coach is to pay him to play," Hutchison said on The Agenda Setters. "And if you run that lens on it, it's obvious. Like, it doesn't matter if he plays four games, six games, eight games, 10 games. You can just use the list as the mechanism to pay him proper, meaningful money to come and be an assistant coach who plays a bit and coaches mostly."
Hutchison suggested paying Pendlebury $750,000 to play six to eight games, as opposed to $200-300k as an assistant coach. He also highlighted North Melbourne as a potential option, suggesting a succession plan with Alastair Clarkson, who is contracted until the end of 2027.
Nick Riewoldt said his value is greater to another club than to Collingwood. Kane Cornes cautioned but backed the idea if it was mainly for coaching, mentioning Caleb Daniel, Jack Darling, and Luke Parker as examples.
Pendlebury's immediate focus, however, will be on recovery. The Magpies face a wildcard final next weekend, and with Pendlebury out, they will need to win at least two knockout finals for the 38-year-old to play again this season, as 7NEWS noted. Collingwood would likely err on the side of caution, as Pendlebury was also substituted early in last year's preliminary-final loss to Brisbane with calf tightness.
McRae's comment that "That'll all be weighed up" suggests the club is carefully balancing how they deal with an iconic player contemplating his football mortality.