The aim is to get a win for Bucks.
“I’m really looking forward to going out there on Monday and playing under Bucks for the last time”
Pendles talked about Bucks’ impact on him and their relationship over the years.
“He’s been such a big role model for the way to attack your football career, the way to attack your life”.
“His impact as a coach, when he was an assistant coach and since being senior coach, the relationships we’ve formed over that 9 and a half years has been fantastic. To play under him and to be involved as part of his journey has been a privilege”.
“I think coaching from when I first started to now, it’s a lot more relationship based and Bucks has been very strong in that regard”.
With a big match this Monday afternoon, the focus is on the task at hand.
“Bucks and the coaches have done a fantastic job at trying to get us focused on the task at hand”
“We acknowledge it’s a big occasion and there’s going to be emotion in the game, but we want to be able to go out there and play a good brand of footy on Monday”
“There’ll be a range of emotions, different people will hand it differently and the same can be said for everyone that has come across Bucks during his playing and coaching career.”
The Dees have been in red hot form, a great test for the Pies.
“Melbourne, what a test for us. They’ve been playing some of the bets football in the league right now. Their midfield’s been on fire, their big guys are catching it and they’ve been defending really well.”
Pendles started on half-back last weekend against the Crows, he spoke briefly about the move to the backline and how he sees his position adapting to the needs of the team.
“Obviously played a big across half-back last week which was a really enjoyable experience for me”
“I think it will be much similar to last week for me, Crispy [Jack Crisp] and I have that ability to be on half-back or the midfield…you’ll find us in similar roles this weekend
Mid-season bye an opportunity to reset. Pendles referenced how Hawthorn have used the mid-season bye as a means of resetting and working out what they want to achieve in the second half of the season, “We’ll be no different here”
With Bucks moving on, Pendles spoke to how the head coaching position is a great opportunity for Robert Harvey.
“We know that Harvs isn’t going to turn the place upside down, he’s been an assistant coach here for a long time.”
“Off the back of trying circumstances, it’s a great opportunity for Harvs... because he’s been close a few times”
When asked about what he expects Harvey to be like as a coach, Pendles replied, “It’s hard to say because he’s never coached me before, he’s been my line coach for the last 7 or 8 years, but I think every assistant coach that becomes a coach says it’s a lot different once you sit in that hot seat”
“I’ve got a great relationship with Harvs…we’ll support him as well as we can and back him in.”
Despite the Pies not getting the desired results this season, Pendles is adamant that effort not the issue.
“I feel like our form the last 2 or 4 weeks has been building”
“One thing that we have been fairly consistent at is our effort, at times our sekill and our execution has been poor but that’s building.”
“The season hasn’t gone as well as we thought, but I don't think at any stage you’ve sat there and questioned this group’s effort.
“We’re trying, we’re cracking in, we’re trying to play the right way, we’ve been really competitive in all our games”
