{"id":872270,"date":"2026-08-29T04:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T04:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/872270\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T04:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T04:40:20","slug":"afl-news-2026-collingwood-magpies-star-scott-pendlebury-to-ditch-club-and-join-gold-coast-suns-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/872270\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL News 2026: Collingwood Magpies star Scott Pendlebury to ditch club and join Gold Coast Suns in free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collingwood<\/a> champion Scott Pendlebury<\/a> will depart the club and join Gold Coast<\/a> as an unrestricted free agent. <\/p>\n

Pendlebury, the V\/AFL all-time games record holder, has played 442 games for the Magpies since being selected in the 2005 draft.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tim Membrey is consoled by teammate Scott Pendlebury.\u00a0AFL Photos<\/p>\n

However, he will not finish his career a one-club player. Instead, he will join Damien Hardwick\u2019s Suns as he looks to extend his career and cross 450 games.<\/p>\n

Pendlebury did not play in Collingwood\u2019s season-ending loss to the Western Bulldogs on Friday night due to a knee injury.<\/p>\n

The Magpies were reportedly torn on whether to extend the 38-year-old\u2019s career<\/a>, despite the midfielder wanting to play on in 2027. Twomey reports that Collingwood was yet to offer him a contract.<\/p>\n

Gold Coast moved aggressively to win Pendlebury over, while Essendon also reportedly offered him the chance to play on.<\/p>\n

Confirming the news on Saturday afternoon, Pendlebury said the call to move on was extremely difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past 21 years, it\u2019s been an incredible privilege to be a Collingwood footballer. From walking in the doors\u00a0as a 17-year-old, to seeing the way everyone at the club has welcomed and embraced my family over all these years is something that is truly special,\u201d Pendlebury said via a statement. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent the majority of my life here and so many of my best memories have come through being part of Collingwood. The friendships, the challenges, the successes and even the tough times have all shaped who I am.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision has not come lightly, but I know this is the best thing for me and my family as I transition into the next phase of my football journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

9News Melbourne\u2019s Owen Leonard is reporting that the Suns have a four-year offer in front of him, two as a player followed by two as an assistant coach. This could see him playing into his 40s.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Pendlebury was asked directly if he had hoped to finish his career at Collingwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to sit down with the club and have a mature conversation about what\u2019s best for the club and what\u2019s best for me and my family, it was amazing and respectful,\u201d Pendlebury told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more thankful to have the club\u2019s support to do what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all came together pretty late in the piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked why he has chosen Gold Coast, Pendlebury ultimately opted against answering the question.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the only club that showed interest,\u201d Pendlebury joked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury\u2019s Collingwood careers are over.\u00a0AFL Photos<\/p>\n

Pendlebury showed some great form in 2026, winning the Anzac Day Medal against Essendon and consistently being among the club\u2019s best midfielders.<\/p>\n

He was managed at several points throughout the season, but not in a dead-rubber round 24 game where the knee injury occurred. <\/p>\n

Collingwood farewelled veteran Steele Sidebottom on Friday night, with the star midfielder announcing his retirement. <\/p>\n

Notably, as Sidebottom was farewelled through a guard of honour by both teams, Pendlebury watched in the background alongside teammate Jeremy Howe.<\/p>\n

Given Collingwood\u2019s season is over, he will now not get the same lavish farewell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make sure Sidebottom had that moment walking off with his kids, that was beautiful, and I didn\u2019t want to distract from that at all,\u201d Pendlebury said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly took a moment to look up and appreciate the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sidebottom and Pendlebury have been foundation pieces for the Pies for nearly two whole decades.<\/p>\n

The Magpies had to make some tough calls on their list, which is the oldest in the competition. <\/p>\n

They are the frontrunners to add Brisbane midfielder Lachie Neale, who will be 34 next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury will depart the club and join Gold Coast as an unrestricted free agent. Pendlebury,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-872270","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\/872270","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=872270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}