{"id":863444,"date":"2026-08-21T17:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/863444\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T17:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:44:16","slug":"afl-2026-magpies-legend-scott-pendlebury-jogged-off-the-mcg-on-friday-night-it-might-be-his-last-game-for-collingwood-wildcard-games-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/863444\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Magpies legend Scott Pendlebury jogged off the MCG on Friday night, it might be his last game for Collingwood, wildcard games, finals,"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

August 22, 2026 \u2014 1:16am<\/p>\n

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Scott Pendlebury jogged slowly to the bench favouring his leg. It might be the last time he is seen in a Collingwood jumper on the MCG.<\/p>\n

It was an utterly nondescript moment in the most storied of careers<\/a>. Pendlebury felt a strain at the back of his knee that might have been a bursar, might have been a hamstring strain, and might just be the injury that puts a stop on his finals series.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Pendlebury walks from the ground with his Collingwood playing future in doubt.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s preliminary final has to be in Craig McRae\u2019s mind as he ponders the fitness of probably the club\u2019s greatest-ever player. Last year, also against the Brisbane Lions, he tore a calf in the warm-up<\/a>. A soft tissue injury again for a now 38-year-old, on the eve of the finals, will weigh on McRae. And Pendlebury.<\/p>\n

If it is to be his last game for Collingwood, it could not have been a more anticlimactic departure. No garlands, no lines of honour, no chairing off, no kids through the banner, just a night sitting on the bench in his slides, eating chicken wraps and watching his team get belted.<\/p>\n

It was the sort of moment that might encourage the idea that we don\u2019t want him to go out this way \u2013 and he doesn\u2019t either \u2013 so he plays on. As McRae said, those are conversations for another day.<\/p>\n

But that moment punctuated what was a very strange game.<\/p>\n

The AFL expanded the finals to 10 teams and introduced the wildcard round<\/a> to engender interest in the last rounds of the home-and-away season.<\/p>\n

Ironically, this game would have had more interest were it held under last year\u2019s rules. Collingwood could not drop below 10th, and so were battling to finish either eighth or ninth. In other words, last year they would have had to win to play finals. Instead, this game was played with the passion of a polka.<\/p>\n

Collingwood\u2019s game is predicated on furious intensity and defensive fight. None were present in a game where 40 goals were kicked and no one wanted to defend. It was a case for the prosecution who say high scoring and exciting football are two different things.<\/p>\n

That is not to diminish the Lions\u2019 effort for they outplayed Collingwood. They beat them by 54 points earlier this year and they are plainly a better team. But we knew that. One team has won the past two flags and sits now in third place, and Collingwood needed a wildcard round to be sure of playing finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really hard as a coach because you\u2019re seeing us not do things we\u2019ve been doing,\u201d McRae said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go, \u2018Oh, what are we doing? Like, this is a trademark\u2019 \u2026 I think there was a period of the game where it looked like both teams wanted to get to next week quickly. It can happen this time of year for teams that aren\u2019t playing for much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LoganLogan Morris is still only scratching the surface of what he could become.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

As it was, the interest was in Logan Morris. It is exciting \u2013 or frightening, depending on your perspective \u2013 to think that Morris has two flags already and is yet to even get close to being the dominant player he is becoming.<\/p>\n

There was a world in which Morris might have been at Collingwood. If the idea of what the club missed out on has haunted them since, the reality of what he has become was a living nightmare on the MCG. Morris kicked eight and could have had 10.<\/p>\n

In his draft year \u2013 and yes, every other club with a selection would have taken him before pick No.31 had they known what he would become \u2013 Collingwood agonised over the decision but were troubled that he was an in-between size and would not be a key forward. They chose Harry De Mattia instead at No.25. He is yet to play a senior game.<\/p>\n

Morris was outstanding, and with Oscar Allen and Eric Hipwood they had their way with Collingwood\u2019s depleted backline missing Darcy Moore, Isaac Quaynor and Harry Perryman and with Jeremy Howe on managed minutes.<\/p>\n

Liam Puncher was playing SANFL footy only a couple of months ago. He might have preferred West Torrens after the night he had on the MCG with the ball coming in the way it was.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Lachie Neale played the sort of game that would have had the boxes of both coaches asking questions. Chris Fagan will have looked at his 16 clearances, yes 16, and wondered, \u2018How can we let him and Zac Bailey potentially leave?\u2019 Craig Mcrae and Collingwood will have said, \u2018If we had misgivings about a 32-year-old free agent before, we don\u2019t now\u2019.<\/p>\n

For the Lions, this game was about jockeying to try and make sure they played the team everyone now wants to play in the finals, Sydney. They should have safeguarded that.<\/p>\n

The draw with Collingwood last week is all the more galling for the Hawks this week, given the Swans are now a shattered club and a team you\u2019d far rather play than any other in these finals (this is obviously an observation through a football lens on the season, and plainly not a comment on what occurred in the Pullman hotel to precipitate this change at Sydney).<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Logan<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hawks now need to win by nigh on 100 points over West Coast to boost their percentage enough to jump the Lions and play Sydney in the first final, not Fremantle in WA. Its doable, but the way they played last week you would not think likely unless the Eagles play like they want their holidays to start.<\/p>\n

That is the hard bit for interpreting this game. The Lions showed they are exceptional and have as complete a forward set-up, with the best young key forward in the game, as they do defensive set-up. They don\u2019t lack for anything across the ground, other than perhaps some smarts from Ty Gallop, a player just back from an idiotic three-game suspension for slamming Mitch Georgiades\u2019 head into the turf, only to tackle Charlie West into the ground with both arms pinned. But then Dayne Zorko elbowing Jack Crisp in the face with a late smother of a handball is also a contender for unnecessarily risky actions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Gleeson<\/a> is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 22, 2026 \u2014 1:16am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-863444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}