![\"Scott](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/98469760674275ee9ebd63c62ecec689f2d748ce.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cBut yeah, I feel like I was able to sort of fight back and change my form around,\u201d Sidebottom said.<\/p>\n
His stature and longevity as an elite player has been predicated, in part, on his flexibility. Late in 2024, as a sputtering Collingwood made a belated charge at finals, he was deployed as an on-ball tagger on, first, Errol Gulden, then Lachie Neale and, finally, Jack Viney \u2013 and he was among Collingwood\u2019s best in each game (they won all bar the Swans game).<\/p>\n
\u201cSo probably those last three games of the year were my best three games of the year,\u201d Sidebottom said.<\/p>\n
He secured his once-parlous contract for 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of last year, I didn\u2019t know whether I was going to get a contract as well,\u201d Sidebottom said.<\/p>\n
Hitherto, he had not known much doubt about his capacity. \u201cYou start to question yourself… that\u2019s probably something that I hadn\u2019t encountered so far in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
As with the Magpies, who were written down, if not written off (this scribe among the sceptics) as being too ancient to contend after round one against Greater Western Sydney, Sidebottom had a remarkable revival thereafter from rounds two until the bye.<\/p>\n
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Scott Pendlebury and Sidebottom have played more games together than any other pair in the game\u2019s history.Credit: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
At one point, Sidebottom seemed a genuine shot at the All-Australian team, with this unforseen twist \u2013 he was playing as a bona fide midfielder, as much inside the contest as outside, after spending years on the wing and in predominantly outside roles.<\/p>\n
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But the Magpies had resorted to placing their pliable Steele in the middle because of Jordan De Goey\u2019s unavailability and the need to support Nick Daicos<\/a>.<\/p>\n When De Goey returned, and Ned Long settled in a defensive inside midfielder role, Sidebottom found himself back out on the wing and as what McRae calls a swiss army knife (referring to Will Hoskin-Elliott) \u2013 a player who can be moved around the field.<\/p>\n \u201cI probably played 90 per cent of the back part of the season on the wing,\u201d Sidebottom said.<\/p>\n He retains that knack, too, for timely goals \u2013 witness the three he dobbed in the qualifying final that were critical in storming to the line over Adelaide.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n Sidebottom reckons his perennial on-field partner Scott Pendlebury should surpass Brent Harvey\u2019s games record next year, but he doesn\u2019t envisage that he will join Pendlebury in the 400-game club (he would be 45 games shy if the Pies made this year\u2019s grand final).<\/p>\n Did he aspire to 400 games (a question other media have posed this week)?<\/p>\n \u201cNot really. I want to play for as long as I can, but I don\u2019t want to be here and just trying to get a number,\u201d Sidebottom said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to be some guy that\u2019s holding some guy out because I\u2019m worried about trying to get some record. I\u2019m not going to get to 400 anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Sidebottom and Pendlebury are chasing a third premiership together, and would be the first triple-premiership players in black and white since before the Second World War.<\/p>\n While to win this year\u2019s flag, clearly, is the ambition, Sidebottom is \u201centrenched\u201d in the moment \u2013 in this year\u2019s finals \u2013 rather than pondering posterity and his record.<\/p>\n Sidebottom and coach Craig McRae (left) share a laugh part-way through their 2023 premiership season.Credit: AFL Photos<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, I feel like I\u2019m in the thick of it, and I\u2019m just not worried about what it\u2019s going to look like when I\u2019m all done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"Sidebottom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/f1f8dfef90628f5b04b2d50ce4144783d53804f1.jpeg\")
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