{"id":869228,"date":"2026-08-26T16:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869228\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T16:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:28:17","slug":"afl-scott-pendlebury-retirement-decision-50-50-craig-mcrae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869228\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL: Scott Pendlebury retirement decision \u201850-50\u2019: Craig McRae"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collingwood coach Craig McRae suspects champion Scott Pendlebury remains \u201c50-50\u201d on whether to play on or retire next season.<\/p>\n

Pendlebury injured his hamstring last game and will not feature in the Magpies\u2019 wildcard final against Western Bulldogs on Friday night before a packed MCG.<\/p>\n

The veteran midfielder reached the WFL\/AFL games record earlier this year and produced one of the most remarkable Anzac Day performances of all time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably 50-50, to be honest, I could see opportunities for him to play on and retire,\u201d McRae said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s weighing up those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pendlebury has been linked with another season elsewhere should Collingwood opt against offering him a list spot.<\/p>\n

McRae was careful when asked about the prospect of Pendlebury playing at a rival club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are decisions he\u2019s obviously weighing up with him and his management,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a big story because he is a remarkable player for such a long time, but we will give him respect and the time that he\u2019s asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n

McRae has maintained \u201copen dialogue\u201d with Pendlebury, giving Collingwood\u2019s greatest player the chance to make the call in his own time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah multiple times, I spoke to him Saturday about that. I heard some narrative about Pendles letting the player dictate their own decisions for the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving these conversations with Pendles for the last five years around what\u2019s best for him and best for us gives me great comfort that he\u2019ll do what is best for the footy club.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe won\u2019t go on and play, in my eyes, unless he can perform at a certain level \u2013 so that gives you great confidence, \u2018Hey, over to you mate, you make those decisions when you think they\u2019re appropriate\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The decision) not entirely in his hands but led by conversations with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an open dialogue around that \u2013 I am giving him space as requested and he will make that decision at the end of the year and we\u2019ll let him have that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as AFL 2026: Collingwood coach Craig McRae addresses Scott Pendlebury\u2019s future<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collingwood coach Craig McRae suspects champion Scott Pendlebury remains \u201c50-50\u201d on whether to play on or retire next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[383309,437911,184698,417710,433491,437913,437903,437910,437909,378582,638,231397,96093,437898,437914,64,63,55,639,10990,387335,437915,34990,19385,376920,39598,21503,410347,437912,435721,404616,391758,411618,437904,437897,437906,387340,69071,381672,43961,33725,35062,437896,82992,437905,437902,163920,46907,19083,437899,285,85,376958,382403,405935,376941,378533,215379,437908,131558,430087,387328,437907,388231,384823,376539,437901,378969,393149,437900,390211,380902,698,354915],"class_list":["post-869228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-future","tag-s-greatest-player","tag-50-50","tag-a-big-story","tag-a-certain-level","tag-a-list-spot-mcrae","tag-a-packed-mcg-the-veteran-midfielder","tag-a-remarkable-player","tag-a-rival-club","tag-a-world","tag-afl","tag-afl-2026","tag-all-time","tag-an-open-dialogue","tag-another-season","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-collingwood","tag-collingwood-coach-craig-mcrae","tag-collingwood-coach-craig-mcrae-suspects-champion-scott-pendlebury","tag-conversations","tag-decisions","tag-earlier-this-year","tag-friday","tag-future","tag-great-comfort","tag-great-confidence","tag-his-final-game","tag-his-hamstring","tag-his-hands","tag-his-management","tag-his-own-time","tag-injured-collingwood-champion-and-games-record-holder-scott-pendlebury","tag-last-game","tag-mcrae","tag-multiple-times","tag-my-eyes","tag-newswire-sport","tag-next-season","tag-night","tag-open-dialogue","tag-opportunities","tag-pendlebury","tag-pendles","tag-respect","tag-saturday","tag-scott-pendlebury","tag-some-narrative","tag-space","tag-sports","tag-such-a-long-time","tag-that-decision","tag-the-call","tag-the-chance","tag-the-decision","tag-the-end","tag-the-footy-club","tag-the-future","tag-the-last-five-years","tag-the-magpies","tag-the-most-remarkable-anzac-day-performances","tag-the-player","tag-the-prospect","tag-the-time","tag-the-wfl-afl-games-record","tag-the-year","tag-their-own-decisions","tag-these-conversations","tag-those-decisions","tag-those-things","tag-western-bulldogs","tag-wildcard-final"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869228","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=869228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}