One of the Australian Football League’s most enduring careers is poised to hit a historic new high this weekend, but the road to Scott Pendlebury’s record-breaking milestone has been marred by public debate – and Collingwood head coach Craig McRae is pushing back hard against critics of the club’s planned celebrations.
This Saturday night when Collingwood takes on Geelong, the 38-year-old veteran midfielder will tie Brent Harvey’s all-time AFL record of 432 senior games, a mark the North Melbourne great set during his decorated career. Controversy has erupted in recent days over the club’s choice to rest Pendlebury for Collingwood’s round match against Hawthorn, with widespread expectation he will also sit out the following week’s away clash against Sydney to break the record in front of Collingwood’s home fans. Additional criticism has centered on the gold-colored number 10 jumper Pendlebury is set to wear for the record match, a departure from Collingwood’s iconic black-and-white uniform.
Prominent Collingwood champion Tony Shaw is among the high-profile figures who have publicly questioned the club’s approach to the milestone, leading to accusations that the plan prioritizes individual glory over team success. Speaking to reporters this week, McRae cut a frustrated and confused figure over the backlash, arguing that the club’s choice to center its milestone plans around Pendlebury does not undermine the team’s competitive priorities.
McRae pointed out that Pendlebury has a long-standing pattern of resting after five-day turnarounds between matches, noting the veteran would not have been physically fit to take the field against Hawthorn regardless of the milestone schedule. “I haven’t given (the gold number) much thought, and I reckon you could see all shades of grey around what this looks like,” McRae told reporters. “If we’re just considering that someone is bigger than the team – for that one day, can’t we celebrate one person?”
The coach rejected the core claims of critics, emphasizing that the milestone celebration will not alter how the team approaches the match against Geelong. “It doesn’t mean he’s going to play outside the rules, it doesn’t mean he’s going to play differently to our game plan, and it doesn’t mean the team is going to try and give him the ball all the time,” McRae explained. “We just want to celebrate this one person, and if it’s a jumper with a different colour, I think we’re probably reading a bit too much into it.”
McRae added that Pendlebury himself has consistently downplayed the occasion, sticking to his long-standing mantra of focusing on the game rather than off-field fanfare. “I know Pendles will say this, and he says this all the time when we have big games: ‘Let’s not play the occasion, let’s play the game’,” McRae said. “I think for this one time, let him have the occasion celebrated and we’ll play the game – in essence, I know he will play the game for what it’s worth. But let’s celebrate the occasion for him when it comes.”
In other team news, McRae provided a positive update on fan-favorite small forward Bobby Hill, who has been working his way back to full fitness following an extended injury layoff. Hill is on track to play a full four-quarter match in Collingwood’s reserve side in the Victorian Football League this Saturday, despite a minor illness that kept him sidelined from team training this week.
McRae said he has deferred all decisions around Hill’s return timeline to the club’s high-performance fitness staff, but confirmed the young forward has made clear progress over the past two weeks. “I think Bobby is progressing, I am sort of leaving it up to high performance for when he is fit and available,” McRae said. “He didn’t play a full game last week. As much as we like what he’s doing on the field, he’s still got a hell of a lot of work to do. We’re anticipating that (he plays a full game in the VFL), he hasn’t trained today, he trained last night with the VFL. He’s been a bit ill this week, but we’re anticipating that full game.”