Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury says the footy “had a way of finding me” in his astounding Anzac Day performance. Scroll for the full Anzac Medalvotes.

It comes as, after winning a record-breaking fifth Anzac Medal in the Magpies’ 77-point win over Essendon, coach Craig McRae said Pendlebury was “unlikely” to play in Round 8 against Hawthorn.

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The smooth-moving veteran on Saturday collected a career-best 43 disposals, 19 score involvements, 10 marks and two goals.

More importantly, he was at the centre of Collingwood’s second-half demolition — booting 15 goals after the main break — which broke the young Bombers.

Asked if he thought he still had that sort of performance in the tank at 38 years of age, Pendlebury’s response was in the team-first lens.

“I feel like the way we played today, set the game up, defended really well — I’m happy to just be a cog in the machine that is our football club and our team,” he told reporters post-match.

“I was saying to Jordy (De Goey) there late, even when I was trying to get away from the ball, it still had a way of finding me.

“It was just one of those days, for me, where it sort of just kept bouncing my way. At 38, you take those days.”

The 21-year veteran’s memorable day was capped by a fourth-quarter goal after going forward and playing on, ironically, Essendon up-and-comer Archie Roberts, whom Pendlebury used to coach.

“Beau (McCreery) kept saying he wanted to do centre-bounce, so I just said to Beau: ‘If you want to do centre-bounce, just tell me, and I’ll go forward’,” Pendlebury said.

“Then, Archie Roberts — I actually coached Archie at Haileybury (College) four years ago, we won a flag together — so when I’d seen that he was on me, I thought ‘I’ll take him deep’.

“The APS (Associated Public Schools of Victoria) chat has lit up about that little matchup, so I won’t let ‘Arch’ live that one down.

“He’s had an amazing start to his AFL career, even today he looked really sharp for them, and it’s a joy sitting back and watching him, knowing that I’ve coached him and got a good relationship.”

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McRae, who said Saturday afternoon’s performance was the best he’d seen during the coach’s time at the club, took the opportunity post-game to acknowledge the 431-gamer’s status as an all-time great of the sport.

“I was saying to the players on the bench … I don’t want to be older and greyer and not appreciate this young man, here,” McRae told reporters on Saturday night.

“What we witnessed today was … he’s a legend of our game, a legend of our footy club. To be able to do that now, at age 38 — we have no barriers on age, no ceilings on performance. It’s remarkable.

“Every time I watch him perform, I’m in awe. We were all so happy for him kicking that goal late, as were all our faithful fans. It’s great to be part of this.”

But while Pendlebury could equal North Melbourne legend Brent Harvey’s all-time record 432 AFL games played next Thursday night against the Hawks, McRae said he was more likely to rest.

“I won’t make that (call) now, but I probably think you’re unlikely next week,” McRae said, looking over at Pendlebury.

“We’ve got a five-day turnaround; we’ll make decisions early in the week, see how he pulls up, but we’ve had conversations around being ‘maybe or maybe not’.

“He had a lot of time on ground (on Saturday), which was great for today, but maybe not next week, but again, we’ll assess that early in the week.”

Presuming he doesn’t play next Thursday night, Pendlebury, in all likelihood, will play his record-equalling 432nd match against Geelong in Round 9 on Saturday, May 9, at the MCG.

It’ll mean his record-breaking 433rd game will either come in Sydney against the Swans in Round 10, or back home at the ‘G in Round 11 against West Coast.

At face value, it’d seem likelier that the record-breaker comes against the Eagles — in front of his adoring fans — in what would otherwise have been a low-drawing fixture.

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Asked about the game in which he’d prefer to equal Harvey’s record, Pendlebury said: “We’ll see how we pull up, it’s a quick turnaround … we’ll have that conversation, but we’ve got bigger-picture in mind, so we’ll stick to that.”

Speaking on his side’s form, McRae agreed with the idea that the final quarter of the Pies’ Round 6 win over Carlton fed into their performance on Saturday.

“It was really important, yeah. We spoke about it earlier in the week, about how we want to play with the ball in hand,” he said.

“And we defended the ground well … so that was a keen focus, but I’ll openly say we’re a work in progress. We still are; this is not a pattern of behaviour, yet.

“We’ve got growth in us, and being a bit more predictable was something we focussed on all week and got on the same page (about).

“I think there were some obvious signs of great work from Tyson Goldsack (assistant coach) … he’s been working really hard behind the scenes to get our forwards connecting better, and our assistant coaches setting the game up a bit differently.

“What you saw today was probably about five weeks’ worth of work.”

FULL ANZAC MEDAL VOTES

Isaac Smith, Triple M (Panel Chair)

3. Scott Pendlebury

2. Nick Daicos

1. Jordan De Goey

Karen Lyon, Australian Football Hall of Fame Selector

3. Scott Pendlebury

2. Nick Daicos

1. Archie Roberts

Matthew Lloyd, 3AW

3. Scott Pendlebury

2. Nick Daicos

1. Josh Daicos

Luke Ball, ABC Radio

3. Scott Pendlebury

2. Nick Daicos

1. Josh Daicos