The Scott Pendlebury celebrations were in full swing at the MCG for the Collingwood champ’s record 433rd game against West Coast in special scenes.
Pendlebury led the Magpies out to an epic guard of honour made up of a combination of ex-teammates, family, other members of the 400-game club and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon.
The 38-year old ran through the banner with his kids, Jax and Darcy, who were also wearing guernseys with gold number 10’s on the back.
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It was some sort of pre-game tribute to Pendlebury.
And prompted joyous cheers from a jam-packed MCG of Collingwood fans that could top 90,000.
The surprise was all Collingwood players — not just Pendlebury — wearing gold numbers in a touch not even the players knew about until just before the game.
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Collingwood coach Craig McRae cheekily admitted the club mightn’t have got ticked off by the league.
“The jumpers look good — I’m not sure we got approval for all of them, we might get in trouble for that, but we wanted to look like a team,” McRae told Fox Footy.
It was a move that drew huge praise from Fox Footy pundits.
“How good? I love it. That looks terrific, it looks awesome, great to see the club have gone with the full 23,” Kangaroos legend David King said.
“Gee, that’s striking. Well done, Collingwood.”
Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt, who’s previously worked with McRae while he was an assistant at Richmond, thinks the Pies coach “would’ve driven this”.
“There was a bit of publicity about the gold number for Scott, (but) how good is this?,” Riewoldt said.
“It is a very, very special occasion.”
Pies fans got another opportunity to shower their legend in love at the 10-minute mark of the first quarter.
They held up ‘SP433’ signs in a loud round of applause around the venue that made for more great scenes.
“It’s like an Olympic opening ceremony,” Fox Footy caller Anthony Hudson said.
Demons great Garry Lyon responded: “It’s exactly what it’s like. This is one of the more amazing scenes you could witness at a game of footy, that’s incredible.”
Pendlebury chats before Game 433 | 02:36
Pendlebury said pre-game he was “embracing” the huge occasion. But in typical Pendlebury fashion, he didn’t change his pre-game routine in a “pretty cruisy day” with family.
“Today’s been really normal,” Pendlebury told Fox Footy’s Mark Howard as they walked out on the MCG.
“Mum and dad stayed over last night. Played a bit of PlayStation this morning with my son — Sonic Olympics and lost the Rugby 7’s to him.
“Copped that from him this morning, but pretty cruisy day.”
While just a home and away game, Pendlebury admitted Saturday’s contest felt “different” given the momentous occasion.
He mentioned that the specially designed boots by his kids was the “best thing I’ve ever received in footy” and he “can’t wait to put them on.”
And the love from people in the street has been hard to ignore!
“Since ‘Fly’ (Magpies coach Craig McRae) has been here we’ve been really big on embracing the occasion,” he added.
“This is a bit different because an individual award, or I don’t even know what you call it.
“I’ve tried to lap it up and enjoy it.
“It’s pretty funny, I was doing some shopping yesterday down in Elwood and they clapped me when I walked out and I was holding a pumpkin. It’s like, I’m getting clapped for buying a pumpkin!”
“Butt it’s been fun and I’ve enjoyed it.
“Now’s the easy part where you get to go out and play.”
McRae described the pre-game scenes as an “amazing spectacle” as he thanked all those in attendance.
“Thanks to our Magpie army for all coming out and supporting this day … we won’t forget,” McRae said pre-game.
“We set on a path a few years ago about honouring our past and bringing the fans along for the ride, and today’s a great occasion for all those things.
“It’s a great occasion. We want to celebrate this, we don’t want to shy away from it. We want to embrace every bit of it, and now it’s about honouring him on the field.
“I’m super excited, bordering on emotional …we want to put on a show for our fans, that’s something we always want to do, but also just the way we go about it with our DNA today … (about) what the process looks like with honouring Pendles out on the field today.”
Pendlebury speaks on milestone match | 02:44
Fans were able to exclusively watch Pendlebury with ‘Pendles Cam’ — an individual camera solely on the 38-year old veteran throughout the game.
The MCG iwas expecting a crowd of over 88,000, with the potential to hit 90,000-plus in what would be some return involving a non-Victorian club.
It’s worth noting that the MCG estimated 70,000 for Friday night’s Dreamtime match and got 78,000 in the house.
“It’s going to be amazing to have that many people here, we’re so fortunate we get to play in front of these crowds all the time,” Pendlebury added.
“It’ll be really special. Nothing better than the ‘G on Saturday afternoon in front of 90,000.”