September had finally rolled around in 1989. Collingwood, having finished fifth, were preparing for an Elimination Final against Melbourne.
The Demons had made the previous year’s Grand Final, so weren’t going to be pushovers – but the Pies had a host of names ready to knock them off.
Tony Shaw was captain – displaying his uncompromising and combative style.
Peter Daicos was the star forward, Graham Wright a relentless wingman, and Craig Kelly a tough defender.
Unfortunately, the result didn’t go Collingwood’s way, but the Club has yet to be to be given the chance to extract Finals revenge from Melbourne since.
That’s not through anyone’s fault, it’s just the Pies haven’t played the Dees in September for 34 years.
Daicos now watches sons Nick and Josh dominate on field, Wright manages the football program, while Kelly is none other than Club CEO – with son Will also a current player.
And none of the current playing list – not Nick, not Josh, not Will – were alive during that most recent finals encounter. Well, none except one.
That one was Scott Pendlebury – the evergreen legend who will take the field for his 29th Finals appearance on Thursday night.
His experience can be measured in many ways, with the aforementioned fact just one of them, but it is harder to quantify just how big an impact it has on his team.
While no longer the captain, Pendlebury still leads on the field, and is excited to run out for his first finals series under new skipper Darcy Moore.
“I’ve just sort of always say to Darcy ‘if you ever need anything, I’m always here for you’,” Pendlebury said.
“He’s doing a fantastic job so I’m just working with a few of the younger guys and helping where I can but those guys have got it all sorted.
“I’ve learnt a lot since I’ve been here and continued to learn with Darcy and the group now that are the leaders.”
With competition for spots high, Pendlebury said it was important to refresh over the bye week.
With training always at 100 per cent, the 35-year-old believes although the heat will be on come Thursday night, the Pies’ attitude won’t waver.
“Training all year has been to an excellent standard, not just because finals are here,” he said.
“It was nice to have a weekend off to freshen up the body and get a bit more energy back in.
“You just freshen up a bit more, you train a bit harder when you’re out there and get a couple of extra sessions in and we were great, we got a little bit more time off as well which was nice.
“We want to continue that to do the things that we’ve been doing all year really well and what a great time to be playing footy.”
2023 will be Pendlebury’s 12th finals campaign, and the Dees the 12th separate opponent he’s played in September.
He’s played teams like Geelong and West Coast more than five times in finals though, and while there is a rivalry is being reignited between Collingwood and Melbourne, he believes finals are where they are made.
“Rivalries for me really start once you start playing consistent finals against them, so for me my big rivals are obviously the Cats, the Hawks for a period and West Coast,” he said.
“It’s great with sides that we come up against in finals and you’re all trying to win finals and you know how good it is to get there.
“I obviously know what to expect a lot more now, the best games, the hardest games, so hopefully we got out there and a lot of guys have now got finals experience in our team which is great so we know what to expect.”
So as long as there isn’t another 34 years between finals matchups, Pendlebury could have another rival to add to the list.
And Thursday night will be just the beginning of that.
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