The captain before him said he was sensational. The captain before that said it was as good as he’s seen him play.

However the sentiments on Scott Pendlebury’s game against Hawthorn didn’t stop at former Collingwood skippers Nick Maxwell and Nathan Buckley.

37 disposals, 20 contested possessions, 10 clearances and 10 tackles was enough for the star midfielder to be awarded maximum votes in the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year award.

Pendlebury received ten votes for his performance, with five coming from Buckley and another five from opposition coach Alistair Clarkson.

While extraordinary polling such as this may be considered a rarity for most players, Collingwood’s round 14 clash with the Hawks marks the third time this season Pendlebury has had a performance marked perfectly by the coaches.

He received ten votes for his 32-disposal, two-goal performance against Carlton in round five, before repeating the feat with a 35-disposal, three-goal showing against the Gold Coast in his 200th game.

Pendlebury now has 55 votes in the prestigious award. Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe leads the competition on 100 votes, with Sydney’s Dan Hannebery the only player separating Pendlebury and Fyfe at the top of the leaderboard.

Pendlebury was one of three Magpies polled votes in what has been described as an honourable loss to the reigning premiers.

Tom Langdon received three votes for a 20-disposal game that included six rebound 50s.

Meanwhile, Steele Sidebottom earned one vote as he collected 30 disposals for his role in the midfield.

The singular vote edges Sidebottom towards Dane Swan as Collingwood’s second place to Pendlebury in the AFLCA Player of the Year award.

Marley Williams stands two votes behind Sidebottom in fourth place for the Magpies, while Adam Oxley and Travis Cloke round out the top five with 15 votes apiece.

Collingwood v Hawthorn

10. Scott Pendlebury (Coll)
8. Cyril Rioli (Haw)
5. Liam Shiels (Haw)
3. Tom Langdon (Coll)
3. Jordan Lewis (Haw)
1. Steele Sidebottom (Coll)

Collingwood players at the end of round 13, 2015
55. Scott Pendlebury
28. Dane Swan
19. Steele Sidebottom
17. Marley Williams
15. Adam Oxley, Travis Cloke

AFLCA Leaderboard at the end of round 13
100. Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
69. Dan Hannebery (Sydney)
55. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
52. David Armitage (St Kilda)
48. Matthew Priddis (West Coast)
46. Andrew Gaff (West Coast)
45. Dayne Beams (Brisbane)