Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury believes that in order to achieve prolonged success at a football club you’ve got to make sacrifices along the way.
On the Jock and Journo podcast, Pendlebury refers to the Golden State Warriors who have won three of the last four NBA Championships. The Warriors star players have reportedly decided to take significant pay cuts in order to draft in key personnel and build a strong culture.
“If you look at the NRL, whether it be the Storm or at the NBA and Golden State, there’s an element of sacrifice to be the best side,” Pendlebury said on the Jock and Journo podcast.
“To be able to bring Beamsy in, Roughy in… guys make little sacrifices along the way to chase success. It was no different in 2010 when we brought Bally (Luke Ball) and Darren Jolly in.
“Hopefully from now on, our club is one of those clubs where guys are willing to come to us for effectively what gets known in the industry as ‘unders’ because they want to experience the culture you’ve seen.
“It happened at Hawthorn and Geelong. A guy like Paddy Dangerfield, arguably the best in the game and I don’t even think he’s in the top five or six highest paid in the league.
“That’s the culture you’re trying to create with your football club. Winning football is really fun and playing in big games performing well while knowing what you’re going to get from your teammates.
“It has been a really good ride for us in the last 12-18 months.”
Pendlebury is eager to achieve the pinnacle in AFL and if that means making salary sacrifices he’s willing to do that.
“I think it’s Ned and the accountant punching out the numbers, working out what they need to do. From there, it’s the powers above,” Pendlebury explains on the decision makers at Collingwood.
“You trust what the football program is going to do and what we can deliver. I’m all about trying to get a flag.
“If it’s in the best interests of the football club, let’s do it. Do what we’ve got to do.”
Listen to the full podcast below.
