Pies supporters get result as Scott Pendlebury

The AFL world was asking one question after the weekend: did Scott Pendlebury’s historic celebration go too far? Leading footy commentator Anthony Hudson, for one, bluntly stated that it did but it probably depends on who you ask.

For some fans, the Collingwood icon’s* 433rd career game undoubtedly mattered more than the game of football played around it, as the Magpies claimed a nervy 10-point win over the West Coast in front of 90,000 at the MCG.

Rumblings of unwitting* umpire favouritism towards Pendlebury swirled on social media on Saturday, thanks to the moment the champion midfielder appeared to get away with a divisive out of bounds ruling.

After a kick towards the boundary line near Collingwood’s forward 50m arc, Pendlebury reached over to snare the bouncing Sherrin* as it hit the boundary line.

TV cameras appeared to show the ball had crossed the boundary line, but no call was made by three umpires all standing close by with a good view.

“The umpire is umpiring Pendlebury different to everybody else,” Hudson said on Kayo Sports.

“Just hesitated on the whistle because of who it was, not where he was.”

Melbourne Demons legend Garry Lyon joked it was a “Wayne Harmes” moment, referring to the 1979 VFL Grand Final where Harmes famously hit the ball towards goal from the boundary line.

“That was Wayne Harmes-like,” Lyon said. “That was from the third row.”

Other controversial calls went the way of the Magpies, with some suggestion from fans the calls were made because of the special occasion.

Nick Daicos appeared to have cost Jordan De Goey a goal when he shoved Liam Baker towards the post in an attempt to get De Goey’s kick over the line without being touched.

The call initially went against Daicos, but the decision was quickly reversed when Reuben Ginbey charged into Daicos, who fell to the ground like a sack of spuds.

Hawks legend Jason Dunstall said on Kayo Sports it was a “dumb” act by Ginbey while also noting Daicos “went down a bit easily”.

There was also controversy surrounding a Josh Daicos handball that resulted in a goal for Roan Steele.

As Daicos slipped in a tackle, the ball came loose when his elbows hit the turf.

Daicos still thumped the ball with his right fist after it had popped into the air out of his left hand, before it ended in the hands of Jamie Elliott.

But in the end, none of it will be remembered because the day undoubtedly belonged to Pendlebury and the Pies.

The 38-year-old played his 433rd career game in his 21st AFL season, breaking North Melbourne great Brent Harvey’s record of 432 matches set back in 2016.

Pendlebury led the Magpies out onto the field and every Collingwood player wore a guernsey with their number in gold on the back to honour the milestone* achievement.

The Collingwood champion had a fairly quiet game by his standards, with 20 disposals, as Nick Daicos impressed with 34 touches and three goals.

West Coast closed within three points in the last quarter but the Magpies steadied to claim a 13.14 (92) to 12.10 (82) victory, with the 10-point margin fitting for Pendlebury.

The win was soured by a hamstring* injury to captain Darcy Moore and a serious knee injury to forward Jamie Elliott, who was stretchered off in the closing stages of the game.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• icon: a person or thing widely admired, especially for having great influence or significance in a particular time or arena
• unwitting: without knowing or planning
• Sherrin: the official brand of leather football used in AFL
• milestone: an important event in the development or history of something or in someone’s life
• hamstring: a muscle at the back of the upper part of the leg

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QUICK QUIZ

1. What the final score at the end of the game?
2. How many games across how many AFL seasons has Scott Pendlebury played?
3. Whose record did he break?
4. How long had the previous record stood?
5. How many people were at the MCG to see Pendlebury’s historic game?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Harness a headline
Come up with five catchy headlines from key moments of Scott Pendlebury’s milestone match that could appear in a newspaper or online post to catch reader’s attention.

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Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Do you think criticism of the umpires is fair from this match, or do you think umpires felt the pressure of the game as well?

How could umpiring be done differently for other stars of the game playing important matches?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Read with Kung Fu punctuation
Pair up with the article between you and stand up to make it easy to demonstrate your Kung Fu punctuation.

Practise reading one sentence at a time. Now read it again, while acting out the punctuation as you read.

Read and act three sentences before swapping with your partner.

Take two turns each.

Now ask your partner to read a sentence out loud while you try and act out the punctuation. Can you keep up? Swap over?

Try acting out two sentences – are you laughing yet?