2021. It seems like a long way away even for the most enthusiastic forward-thinkers.

Steele Sidebottom will be 30 years old in 2021. Dane Swan will be 37 and Nathan Buckley will be on the verge of celebrating his 50th birthday.

By the time he reaches the end of his new five-year contract, Sidebottom will be hoping to have done what Swan and Buckley did before him and lead a successful Collingwood team deep into September.

Buckley was the star of a consistently impressive Magpies outfit in the early 2000s, while Swan reached the peak of his game during and in the season after Collingwood’s fifteenth premiership in 2010.

Sidebottom was an extremely talented, yet wide-eyed 19-year-old when Collingwood defeated St Kilda in the 2010 Grand Final.

Now 25 and with the ink still fresh on a long-term contract, he believes reaching the ultimate success once again is a driving force behind his decision to re-sign with Collingwood.

“Being young at the time, people used to always tell me ‘don’t take it for granted’, he told Collingwood Media upon announcing his new contract.

“I was only 19 and maybe I did a little bit, but I think having tasted it, I want to get that back.”

“Being in the leadership group now, it’s my responsibility to help drive others to get to that place again.

“I’m pretty confident that with the list we’ve got, within the next couple of years it’s definitely achievable.”



A 19-year-old Sidebottom celebrates a crucial goal in the 2010 Grand Final replay.

Sidebottom’s position as a primary ingredient in Collingwood’s midfield was already confirmed prior to his re-signing.

He has played 143 games for the Magpies and has placed in the top five in Collingwood’s Best and Fairest for the past four years.

And if there was any chance at being lured away from the Holden Centre and into free agency, the midfielder had already made his preferences clear.

“I’m very honoured to be a Collingwood player, and I’ll be a Collingwood player for many years to come,” Sidebottom told the Magpie faithful at the 2015 Copeland Trophy.

Upon being announced as a vice-captain once again in 2016, he reaffirmed his commitment once again.

“I'm fairly confident (the contract) will sort itself out in the next couple of weeks and I'll get it out of the way before the season starts,” the 25-year-old told Ben Guthrie of AFL Media.

Sidebottom’s decision to remain at the club for the next six years (his current contract expires at the end of 2016), pays testament to the development of Buckley’s emerging young list.

“I think it’s a pretty exciting time at the club now,” Sidebottom said.

“The last two years haven’t been great, but I think we’ve really made improvements on our footy.

“I think in the next few years we’ve got something to prove. I’m really looking forward to seeing the group come together and gel and start playing some real consistent footy.

“There’ll be some good times ahead.”

The reverse side of the equation is Collingwood’s faith in Sidebottom.

Since coming second in the Norm Smith Medal in the 2010 Grand Final, the midfielder has barely missed a game.

He stands alongside Scott Pendlebury as a member of the leadership group and continues to grow as a mentor to the Magpies’ up-and-coming onballers.



Sidebottom (second from left) alongside fellow leaders Brent Macaffer, Scott Pendlebury, Nathan Brown and Taylor Adams.

Pendlebury recently signed his own long-term contract when he announced he’ll be at the club until the end of 2020. Now Sidebottom is honoured to do the same and mirror his captain’s commitment.

“I definitely feel privileged. I’m glad the club showed faith in me,” he said.

“They showed the faith eight years ago when they first drafted me.

“So I suppose it’s just up to me now to pay back a little bit of that faith and just try and play my best footy for the next six years.”

Forever a changing game, it is nearly impossible to predict what will happen the world of football over the course of a six-year timeframe.

However one thing is a near certainty. Steele Sidebottom will be a Collingwood player in 2021.