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Player Watch Scott Pendlebury

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What a legend. It's not always the case that you appreciate the talent and leadership of a player while they are playing. The legendary status often grows as the years pass by. But when you watch Pendles you see the greatness. It's so sad when you know time always wins out. We simply have to enjoy every moment while we still have him in the beautiful black and white.
 
Scott Pendlebury, one of if not my favourite Collingwood player ever. On and off the field.
 

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To think people on here said he should retire at the end of this year and he shouldn't have been named captain at the start of this year.

Got named captain of the year and stood up against Geelong to have the most disposals on the ground from either team.
 
I reckon he's got another 2 years left. Will finish this season on 358 or 359, will play another 24 or so next season for 382 or so, and then gets to 400 in 2024.

Obviously hard to predict, but with the level he's playing at, his dedication to fitness and preparation, and the amount he seems to be loving footy under Fly, I can't see why he wouldn't.
 

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gouki88 said:
I reckon he's got another 2 years left. Will finish this season on 358 or 359, will play another 24 or so next season for 382 or so, and then gets to 400 in 2024.

Obviously hard to predict, but with the level he's playing at, his dedication to fitness and preparation, and the amount he seems to be loving footy under Fly, I can't see why he wouldn't.
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I think we can really add on a couple years at half back if health allows
 
Grateful to JuniorB for bringing this article to my attention in a different thread, but I think it deserves to be posted here too. Here's the link, and the text is below:

The Daicos brothers are brilliant and Patrick Lipinski has been a revelation. Brayden Maynard is tough as nails and Ash Johnson has been an X-factor. Jack Ginnivan is more than the hype and Darcy Moore may be the most brilliant Pie defender in a generation.

But for all the new and improved parts of the rollicking chaos that is Collingwood in 2022, there has been one calming constant.

Scott Pendlebury is so often the man who grabs the ball, makes time stop around him and coolly finds an option that either defends, or helps steal, a lead. He is a worthy contender for the mantle of best Magpie of all time but, strangely, when people talk of the greatest players in the league since 2000, he doesn’t seem to be bracketed with Gary Ablett Jr or Chris Judd.

Champion Data has delved into the Pendlebury file to assess his career and the value he still provides each week approaching the age of 35.

Precision Pendles​

While the “basketball background” tag has become an internet meme mocking the groupthink laziness of commentators, it has long been shorthand for his 360 degree vision through traffic and ability to construct space where others can’t.

Champion Data’s kick rating ranks how often a player successfully hits their kicks compared to the AFL average based on the difficulty of that kick. It is acknowledged that the contested and congested nature of how midfielders get the ball makes it more difficult for them to achieve a higher kick rating than defenders and forwards.

Since 2012, Pendlebury has the highest kick rating of any regular midfielder – and 350 games down this has not diminished. At 34, he is still the best kicking midfielder in the AFL in 2022, with a kicking rating of +7.8% significantly up on his career rating of +4.5%.

Being the architect of Collingwood’s ball movement through precision kicking out of the middle is still his trademark.

Team sacrifice​

The 2022 renaissance of Collingwood has provided many storylines. One that has been underplayed is Pendlebury’s switch to defence, and then switch back to the midfield as troops were lost.

From Rounds 1 to 7, he played 55% of his time in defence and was ranked second in AFL Player Ratings for mid-sized defenders at 15.7.

As injuries hit, the captain was called back to his old home in the midfield. From Round 8 onwards, 87% of his playing time has been in the midfield. And while his player ratings have dropped to 13.0 in that time, he has essentially been playing the most accountable midfield role.

He is still posting very respectable midfield numbers but, if a Patrick Cripps-type is winning the ball out of the middle, it’s invariably Pendlebury who clamps down.

Naturally, his clearance numbers have reduced because he’s doing more stopping than ever. The veteran has sacrificed part of his game for the greater good but it’s barely been noticed.

Ice in his veins​

When games have been up for grabs in all those last quarters for Collingwood this year, Pendlebury, more than anyone, has stepped up in the frantic final minutes.

Champion Data’s ranking points are weighted towards when a game is on the line and it’s here when the skipper stamps his authority. Pendlebury is the best performing Pie in last quarters, averaging more ranking points in the heat of Collingwood’s thrilling finales than any other.

He’s also ranked second for Collingwood in first quarters, so when a tone needs to be set or game needs to be won, it‘s Pendlebury who leads the way.

Mr Consistency​

It’s Pendlebury’s consistent excellence that staggers. Perhaps he gets marked down in those greatest player discussions because a Pendlebury game looks very similar to the one before, and the one before that.

In 2010, Champion Data introduced player ratings points that value an individual game. It is based on more than just disposals and, over that time, it’s generally determined that anything over 10 points represents a good game for a midfielder.

During that span, Pendlebury has played 281 games and achieved a 10-point rating 251 times. He has the astounding hit rate of 89% of his games being “good”. His nearest peer since 2010 is Ablett Jr, who achieved 85.2% over 189 games.


The cream of midfield talent from the last decade feature down that list: Matt Priddis, Clayton Oliver, Dane Swan, Marcus Bontempelli, Nic Naitanui, Jobe Watson, Sam Mitchell, Patrick Dangerfield and Nat Fyfe.

Pendlebury has played more games than any of them in that time period and his consistency eclipses them all. To put it in perspective, Oliver at 83% is the nearest active player to Pendlebury’s hit rate; a player who week-in-week-out impresses the AFL with his level of consistency.

Granted, Oliver’s figures contain his early years in the game, whereas Pendlebury’s first 60-odd games were played prior to 2010. But for Oliver to match Pendlebury in games and consistency as per these ratings, he’d have to play the next six full seasons while recording approximately one ‘below good’ game per year.

Crazy.

Trophy cabinet​

Apart from a Brownlow Medal, Pendlebury has just about every accolade the game offers.

Even then, his record of polling at least 13 votes in every count from 2009 to the shortened 2020 season speaks to the freakish consistency.

Six All-Australian selections as part of eleven squad selections, five best and fairests amid thirteen top three-finishes, a premiership and a Norm Smith Medal is almost incomparable.

He’s had the most handballs ever by a VFL/AFL player and, assuming an injury-free 2023, is on track to break Robert Harvey’s record for most disposals ever by an VFL/AFL player in less games than the St Kilda champion.

To round it all off, Pendlebury has played and captained the most games ever for the league’s’ most famous club.

Pendlebury looks like he could go on forever, but this weekend and perhaps next, treasure the low-key wizardry of one of the best to play the game as he once again takes on the pivotal role in a Collingwood premiership drive.

Is he in the Ablett and Judd class? Absolutely
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gouki88 said:
Grateful to JuniorB for bringing this article to my attention in a different thread, but I think it deserves to be posted here too. Here's the link, and the text is below:
Click to expand...
Cracking article.

He has had a really underrated year. To be performing at this level at his age is incredible. A premiership as captain would be his crowning achievement.

I’m the same age as Pendles, so his continuity at the elite level is the only thing that makes me still feel remotely young. Once he hangs ‘em up, I’ll put myself out to pasture.
 
gouki88 said:
Grateful to JuniorB for bringing this article to my attention in a different thread, but I think it deserves to be posted here too. Here's the link, and the text is below:
Click to expand...
Great article. As strange as it sounds, I think Pendlebury is significantly underrated — eg. not AA for several years. The bloke is a brain surgeon in a game played predominantly by builders and carpenters.
 

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Sea fog said:
Our best player today?
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I think Crisp just shaded him, but was in the top 3 players on the ground for sure. How good is this bloke though? Averaged 29 touches throughout the finals at 34 years of age. None of his current contemporaries (i.e. Selwood, Cotchin, Mundy etc) are anywhere near his level right now.

Had an underrated season too - any other player at that level would've easily made the AA squad. I reckon he'll probably win our bnf, especially if finals are considered (which I think they are for the Copeland?).
 

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