The AFL’s decision to allow Scott Pendlebury to wear a commemorative guernsey for his milestone game has been slammed by fans.
The Collingwood veteran will break the all-time appearance record at the MCG next month.
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And he will do so with in a special jumper that could feature a gold theme, following Collingwood’s request to make the change.
Pendlebury has already faced criticism for waiting to break Brent Harvey’s 433-game record until Collingwood’s next match at the MCG, and now fans have blasted the “cringe” move.
“I love Pendles but this is way off,” wrote one fan on X.
Another added: “Surely this is a laugh! I must have missed Brent Harvey’s special jumper when he broke the long standing record.”
“This sounds like an April fools joke. This is laughable. How embarrassing,” remarked a third.
Another commented: “Someone tell me they’re joking.”
While it may be a bold move, it is not the first time teams have commemorated such milestones in a special way.
When Harvey broke the previous record by making his 427th appearance, each North Melbourne player wore the number on their jumper.
A gold number has even been worn before – by Alex Johnston when he broke the NRL’s try-scoring record last month.
But Pendlebury may be more liable for criticism after it was reported he will be rested against Hawthorn to allow him to break the record at the MCG.
Pundit Kane Cornes did not hold back in his criticism as he accused the Pies of prioritising the milestone over the team’s performance.
“I’m not sure when at Collingwood it became about the individual and not the team. Scott Pendlebury should be playing this week against Hawthorn, they need him to be playing,” he said on Channel 7.
“The reason he’s not playing against Hawthorn when they desperately need him is because they cooked him, they absolutely cooked him.
“He was chasing a disposals and Anzac Day Medal record that we all loved and all celebrated — congratulations to him.
“But this is about the team, and Collingwood’s next three weeks — Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney. Pendlebury is going to be playing in one of those games.
“They’ve beaten St Kilda, Giants, Carlton and Essendon – they’ve beaten no one. He just should be playing this week, they desperately need him against this Hawthorn side.
“But he’s not because he spent five minutes total on the bench in the second half. He’s 38 years old, he should have played – with this game in control at halftime and certainly at three-quarter time — five minutes of the last quarter.
“He spent the most time on the ground other than Nick Daicos, he spent just over two minutes on the bench in the last quarter.
“When has he ever played 92% of a quarter? If they had managed him smartly and played him for 70-80 minutes of the game, he plays this week.”
Collingwood face Geelong and the Sydney Swans after meeting Hawthorn this week, with Pendlebury’s record breaker set to come against West Coast on May 23.
