Pendlebury was awarded five notes from both Nathan Buckley and Geelong counterpart Chris Scott for his 30 disposals, a routine game by his loft standards. But it was his career high four goals that added the exclamation mark to a commanding performance under lights.
The nature of some of his goals really caught the eye. The 24-year-old sparked with two majors from long range; one from the boundary line in the second quarter and the final goal of the night from the point of the square that took a miraculous bounce through the big sticks to ice the win.
Now with 48 votes from eight matches, Pendlebury is the outright leader of the AFLCA's major award, heading a field that includes Brent Stanton (Essendon), Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs) and Scott Thompson (Adelaide).
Under most circumstances, Steele Sidebottom would have been a monty to receive full votes having gathered a career high 38 possessions. But the superlative performance of Pendlebury meant that he received a total of seven votes from the two coaches to sit alongside Geelong captain Joel Selwood in second place.
Centre half back Ben Reid sat out the last 10-minutes of the match with injury but had still done enough to be recognised by the coaches for his work on Geelong's Tom Hawkins. Reid received three votes from the coaches, a fitting reward for the left footer who successfully quelled his nemesis from last year's Grand Final.
Geelong backman Harry Taylor received two votes after restricting Magpie powerhouse Travis Cloke while Tyson Goldsack's enterprising efforts inside 50 were rewarded with one vote. Goldsack has now kicked seven goals in his past three matches - as many as he'd bagged over his previous five seasons.
Collingwood v Geelong voting
| Votes | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Scott Pendlebury | Coll |
| 7 | Steele Sidebottom | Coll |
| 7 | Joel Selwood | Geel |
| 3 | Ben Reid | Coll |
| 2 | Harry Taylor | Coll |
| 1 | Tyson Goldsack | Coll |
Collingwood leader board for the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year (number of matches the player polled)
| Votes | Player |
|---|---|
| 48 | Scott Pendlebury (5) |
| 28 | Dane Swan (4) |
| 18 | Steele Sidebottom (3) |
| 13 | Ben Reid (2) |
| 12 | Dayne Beams (3) |
| 10 | Harry O'Brien (2) |
| 4 | Travis Cloke (1) |
| 3 | Nathan Brown (1) |
| 3 | Ben Johnson (1) |
| 1 | Jarryd Blair (1) |
| 1 | Marty Clarke (1) |
| 1 | Sharrod Wellingham (1) |
| 1 | Alan Didak (1) |
| 1 | Tyson Goldsack (1) |
Leader board for the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year
| Votes | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 48 | Scott Pendlebury | Collingwood |
| 47 | Brent Stanton | Essendon |
| 42 | Matthew Boyd | Western Bulldogs |
| 42 | Scott Thompson | Adelaide |
| 40 | Josh Kennedy | Sydney |
| 40 | Jobe Watson | Essendon |
| 35 | Ryan Griffen | Western Bulldogs |
| 31 | Patrick Dangerfield | Adelaide |
| 31 | Brett Deledio | Richmond |
| 31 | Scott Selwood | West Coast |
