In his 14th season at the club, Simon Prestigiacomo played a career-high 25 matches, an accomplishment made even more impressive after only managing two games in an injury-riddled 2008 year.
The defender challenged some of the best forwards in the competition and came out on top.
The ever-reliable backman finished ninth in the Copeland Trophy and earned three votes from the coaching staff for taking down Jonathan Brown, Matthew Lloyd and Joel Bowden.
Not normally known as a player to command the spotlight, Prestigiacomo took centre stage against Brisbane in round 18 when he returned to the field after sustaining a heavy head knock against Brown in the opening minutes of the first quarter. Moved into uncharted waters up forward, Prestigiacomo had two set shots at goal to add to his career tally of three but was unable to convert to the disappointment of supporters.
Collingwood will look to once again rely on the veteran, who is now the oldest player at the club since the departure of Anthony Rocca, as the key backman in season 2010.
Mark Neeld: Similar to Alan Didak, he made the initial 40-man squad for the All Australian team. I thought that was great reward for his year. He plays on one of the opposition's two key forwards week in, week out. That's no mean feat in itself but he rarely has multiple goals kicked against him.
2009 highlights
Round four v Brisbane: Took on Jonathan Brown in a match up lasting 88 minutes. Held the forward goalless in a key win for club.
Round 15 v Western Bulldogs: In a match up pitting veteran against veteran, Prestigiacomo held Scott Welsh goalless across 75 minutes.
2009 AFL statistics
| G | K | H | D | M | G | B | T | C |
| 25 | 2.9/62.5% | 4.9/89.3% | 7.8/79.4% | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
