> Click here to watch Pendlebury speak to the media on MondayCOLLINGWOOD midfielder Scott Pendlebury says Mark Thompson is on the money when labelling Collingwood envious of the Cats’ recent success.
Since the Cats won their way into the grand final qualifier, the Geelong coach has tried to turn the heat onto the Pies ahead of Friday night’s preliminary final.
Thompson’s team has played in the past three grand finals, and knocked the Pies out of the finals race in preliminary finals in 2007 and 2009.
Pendlebury said his team is not alone in having watched the Cats' run of sustained success with admiration.
“I think most clubs would be jealous of Geelong,” the Pies star said on Monday.
“If someone said we could have two of the last three premierships, you’d definitely take that. So he’s spot on in saying that, that we’re jealous.
“But we’re not alone there.”
Following Geelong’s 69-point thumping of Fremantle on Friday night, Thompson started the mind games.
“They’re just chipping away at trying to get a great team going. I’ve got no doubt they are a little bit jealous of us, envious of what we’ve achieved and that they’re after us,” he said.
“We’ve just got to have as much hatred for them as what they have for us. And I’m sure they probably hate us.”
But Pendlebury said he didn’t feel any hatred towards the Cats .
“I reckon they’re a fantastic side to watch,” he said.
“I think most [of the] football public love watching Geelong play, and I’m no different.”
Pendlebury can’t wait to run out on Friday night after missing the corresponding fixture last year with a broken leg.
He will form a key ingredient of a Magpies midfield that now believes itself capable of matching it with the likes of Ablett, Bartel, Chapman and Selwood.
“They do have a champion midfield, and it’s a big challenge for our guys to go up against them,” he said.
“I suppose they’ve been the benchmark for three or four years now, so it’s a very good challenge. But we definitely back our ability against theirs.”
While Pendlebury and Dane Swan are the headline acts for Collingwood, the 22-year-old said the emergence of youngsters such as Sharrod Wellingham has prompted his team’s vast improvement in 2010.
Wellingham rolled an ankle in the Pies’ qualifying ankle win more than a week ago, and while he trained on Monday morning, Pendlebury said it would likely be up to the pacy midfielder to make the correct call on his own fitness later in the week.
“He’s got to be really honest with himself and honest with the side,” Pendlebury said.
“But knowing Sharrod, he recovers pretty well, and I’m tipping he’ll be ready to go.”
