‘He can do what he wants in my book’: Fletcher backs Pendles to match his feat and play to 40

Former Essendon champion Dustin Fletcher has urged Scott Pendlebury to play on next year and potentially compete at the highest level as a 40-year-old like he did.

The 38-year-old Pendlebury will play his 433rd AFL game on Saturday against West Coast, breaking Brent Harvey’s games’ record. The former Collingwood captain said he is attracted to the idea of playing another season – and Fletcher can see no reason why he wouldn’t.

“I think he should (play on). I haven’t seen much footy but obviously seeing him on Anzac Day against the Bombers he’s obviously still going well and I don’t know whether he plays 12 or 15 games, 16 games. He is a fair asset to have,” Fletcher said.

“He can do what he wants in my book,” Fletcher said when asked if Pendlebury should play on next year and potentially as he did play into his 40s.

“He is a good player, still playing well. I suppose the speed (is a question) but he has got the smartness with the footy so for me a 14-game at worse, maybe 16 games Scott Pendlebury…he is a good player. I’m not sure, it takes him to 450 does it? (It would assuming he plays more games this year). Maybe the year after.

“We would take him at the Bombers any day of the week. He is a great player, and it’s great to see him break the record.”

Former games record holder Kevin Bartlett also urged Pendlebury to play on.

“He plays well in big games and that’s always a sign of a great, great player,” said Bartlett, the first player to reach 400 games. “I hope he does play on next year because it’s great to see the great players play on for as long as they can.”

Pendlebury said he would decide later in the year on playing next season but had not yet had meaningful conversations with the club about it.

“I am not sure, I think if my form is good enough and my body holds up, that is a discussion I will have later in the season, but I feel good, and I am almost over some niggles. So I feel good,” Pendlebury said at a press conference on the MCG with all members of the 400 Club.

The six members of the elite VFL/AFL club – Bartlett, Fletcher, Michael Tuck, Brent Harvey, Shaun Burgoyne and Pendlebury – have played precisely 2500 games between them. This week is 2501.

“I don’t think I would have gone on this year at all if I didn’t think I could contribute,” Pendlebury added.

“The easy part is coming out and playing because who wouldn’t love that? But the hard part is in October when footy is still six months away. Can you still get up and do the work? I still love doing that sort of stuff.

“I love the game, I really do I love the coaching side of it so we will see where that lands in the future.”

Pendlebury dismissed criticism of his management this year, missing games such as against Sydney last Friday night in order for his record-breaking game to be at the MCG.

“We planned out from the start of the year a schedule to manage me for the whole season. We have taken the long view of getting through the season. I certainly didn’t plan to have an Achilles injury in round 3 or 4 and then have to manage that all the way up until even now,” he said.

“I saw somewhere that I was moving well before the Hawthorn game if you had have seen my GPS [data] and top speed you probably would have run faster than me that day (doubtful).”

The non-MCC ticket allocation has exhausted with nearly 90,000 people forecast to attend. The only way to buy a ticket now for Saturday’s game is to buy a $44 “Pendleship” – a form of discounted club membership.

”I appreciate the game for what it is I always take moment to look around at the stands find my family… I still feel like that myself I feel like I am achieving my dream,” Pendlebury said.

“I didn’t want to be a guy that only played well when the side played well and performed poorly when the side performed poorly. So I wanted to be really consistent and level no matter what the game threw up.”

He said part of that was driven by his fear of letting down his coach Mick Malthouse who scared him through his whole career.

While he didn’t individualise about many people who had helped him, he thanked Eddie McGuire for the behemoth club he built at Collingwood.

“I got drafted by the biggest club and best club in the land because of what he (Eddie built). I have always been appreciative of the fact I was drafted into this club. I am only passing through – I have probably overstayed my welcome a bit – but I have had the opportunity to play in front of so many big crowds and big games and that really fast tracks you.”

Bartlett joked that he’d have got to 1000 games if he’d been paid in line with modern players.

“A million dollars a year? I think I would have played a thousand games,” Bartlett said.

Asked what got him through more than 400 games Michael Tuck quipped: “a couple of travellers going home”.

Harvey teased Pendlebury for making it all about him in “Pendles Week”.

“He has dragged it out. There’s a bit of ‘look at me’,” Harvey joked.

“I didn’t think anyone would break my record and I certainly don’t think anyone will break his … he is pretty sexy to watch.”

Pendlebury maintained there was not only more life left in his career, there was life yet in his club this year.

“I am really confident we can contend, we have taken it up to a lot of the best sides. I think Fremantle we lost by four points, Hawthorn a draw, Sydney a goal, Geelong were the side this year that were clearly the benchmark, playing them it was a bit of a surprised with how advanced they were and how slick and quick they were. And we saw it again on the weekend.“
– Michael Gleeson

Why Pendlebury is firing off text messages before game 433

Peter Ryan

Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury says thanking those who have helped him pass Brent Harvey’s AFL games record has been a bigger focus for him than the scrutiny on the timing of his milestone game and the plans to celebrate it.

After being rested from matches against Hawthorn and Sydney in the past three weeks, the 38-year-old will play his 433rd match against West Coast in front of an anticipated full house at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

The AFL has approved several initiatives to commemorate the match, including allowing Pendlebury to wear several special jumpers during the game with a gold No.10 on the back.

My Room, a children’s cancer charity, will receive a donation from Pendlebury (who has long been one of its ambassadors), which is likely to be a six-figure sum as a result of the commercial windfall arising from the match.

Some opposition clubs believe the league’s decision to allow payments to Pendlebury to sit outside the salary cap will open the door for them to request exemptions for other milestone matches.

Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell said he had no issue with the AFL’s call, as long as it applied to all in similar situations. How players are allowed to maximise their commercial appeal is likely to be a major discussion point during next year’s collective bargaining agreement.

Pendlebury, renowned for his faultless preparation, is not letting any of the talk distract him.

“I’ll stay out of that [debate] and just do what I do. I know what I am doing is right,” Pendlebury said.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae said on Friday night after the Magpies six-point loss to ladder leaders Sydney that it was logical for Pendlebury to pass the milestone at the MCG where a function is planned for those who have supported the Magpie throughout his career.

Most of Collingwood’s 2010 premiership group is expected to be on hand for the game, along with other former teammates, coaches, family and friends who have contributed to his career.

Pendlebury has been accessible in the build-up to the game and will hold a media conference on Monday afternoon as the celebration of his achievement begins.

Popular and well-respected by teammates, he played in Collingwood’s premierships of 2010 and 2023 as well as captaining the club from 2014-22. Steele Sidebottom was the only teammate to play in both premierships alongside Pendlebury.

“I have made a conscious effort to get around and text everyone privately who has played a big role [in my career],” Pendlebury said.

Pendlebury, who holds the AFL disposals record, has won a Norm Smith Medal (2010 grand final rematch), earned six All-Australian selections and won five Copeland Trophies as Collingwood’s best and fairest player, while finishing in the top-three of that count 14 times.

He will be the second player to break the league’s games record at the MCG, joining Michael Tuck who broke the games record at the venue in 1990.

No player has ever established a new games record outside Victoria, and Pendlebury will be the ninth player to pass the mark at their home ground. Only Collingwood’s Jock McHale at Geelong in 1914, Carlton’s John Nicholls at Windy Hill in 1974, Richmond’s Kevin Bartlett in a final at Waverley in 1980 and Hawthorn’s Tuck at the MCG have not been at their home venue.

Pendlebury is the third Magpie alongside McHale and Gordon Coventry to set a new games record for the VFL/AFL.

The Magpies have won four of the seven matches Pendlebury has played in 2026. He played in losses to Adelaide, Fremantle and Geelong and was removed from the match against the Giants early due to a minor Achilles tendon concern.

He has been battling minor niggles in his legs all year and played no part in last year’s preliminary final after injuring his calf soon after the opening bounce.

“His body isn’t as bulletproof as you think; with five- and six-day breaks, the data shows he is just getting to the line. We’re looking after him, and we’ll celebrate him appropriately,” McRae said on Friday night.

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