Opinion
When Scott Pendlebury was drafted from Gippsland, 21 years ago, I spoke to an official from a rival club to get his unvarnished thoughts on the draft, and how particular clubs had fared.
“Collingwood were terrible,” he said.
It was an assessment that proved as off the mark as the calls to sack Mark Thompson as Geelong coach in Pendlebury’s first season.
The Magpies, as we know, selected a pair of Gippsland kids named (Dale) Thomas and Pendlebury at picks No.2 and No.5, harvesting the maximum return from a descent down the ladder and the generous rules that awarded a priority pick (No.2) for teams that won five games or less, and incentivised teams to tank.
Pendlebury’s career has reflected his distinctive style of play, in that his impact was not as obvious as, say, “Buddy” Franklin’s or “Dusty” Martin’s. He was a stealthy weapon who shredded the opposition with deft changes of direction and smarts.
If he were a tennis player, you would say that he was playing a whole point, not just shots; he could see the whole field.
Today, he stands as one of a very small group of footballers in the current competition who, one day in the future, will (surely) be ordained as an official Legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Amid the deluge of tributes, praise and financial benefits, it’s worth considering where Pendlebury’s incomplete innings ranks in the AFL’s pantheon, over the course of his career.
He began in 2006, when West Coast and Sydney were the premier teams, and a young Chris Judd the competition’s best player, soon to be challenged, as Geelong took flight, by Gary Ablett jnr and then the highly unorthodox Franklin.
Unlike Dusty, Ablett jnr, Judd, Marcus Bontempelli and Buddy, Pendlebury was never viewed as the No.1 player in the competition, though he was close to Ablett jnr from 2013 and 2014; it is a quirk of his career that peak Pendlebury coincided with a Collingwood recession; four of his five best and fairests were taken from 2013 to 2016.
This observer places only four footballers ahead of Pendlebury over the past 20 years.
Franklin is foremost, as the era’s generational forward and match-winner – a forward who defied congestion and the flood of defensive numbers to surpass 1000 goals; Buddy did not pack mark, and had periods of spraying shots. But he was an extraordinary and durable champion, who got people out of their seats almost every week.
Ablett jnr, aka “Little Gary”, has the game’s best resume in the 21st century, with five most valuable player awards from his peers, a couple of Brownlows, and a machine-like constancy of output (in which he resembles Pendlebury).
Was Ablett superior to the 2020s benchmark individual, “the Bont”? Only by a weensy margin, and Bontempelli – just 30, eight years Pendlebury’s junior – could yet overtake him.
Judd’s early years at West Coast were phenomenal. Long-time West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett, not prone to hyperbole, once opined that Judd was the best player he had seen.
Pendlebury’s career is a contrast to Dusty’s, in the same way that Martin’s is completely different to Kevin Bartlett’s marathon excellence.
Martin was a clear best player in the AFL from 2017 to 2019, when he owned the September stage like no player. On the eve of Dusty’s 300th, ex-teammate Shane Edwards explained how those winning Tiger teams gained confidence from knowing that they had Martin; they only needed to get the footy in his vicinity, forward of centre, in a tight game, to win.
Pendlebury’s more muted style was still heavily influential in the clutch moments, none more important than the two grand finals Collingwood won, the 2010 replay (when he was Norm Smith medallist) and the 2023 thriller, when he acted as the on-field director, Luke Hodge-style, in the second half, as the Pies won a classic.
Joel Selwood, another destined for Legend-hood, is next behind Dusty at No.7, which is also – unfortunately for Carlton, Essendon and North Melbourne – where he was selected in the 2006 draft.
Not as powerful as Buddy, nor as explosive as Judd, Patrick Dangerfield or Martin, Selwood’s aversion to defeat and competitive animus was nonpareil. He was dynamic whenever the Cats needed to arrest the opposition momentum and while combative, his outside game was undersold.
Dangerfield, ranked eighth, has claims to being higher on this list, considering his longevity, immense speed and power, and capacity to play forward as well as in the midfield. He was the premier AFL performer in 2016, and not far from in 2015 and 2017-19. The only blemish in his game was that his kicking was much less precise than other champions.
The final two spots in the top 10 could be filled by 10 players.
I’ve opted for Matthew Pavlich, despite his career beginning way back in 2000, at No.9. Pavlich was far more than an outstanding key forward. He could win games from the midfield, or dominate from behind the ball.
Had he played for a monstrous Melbourne team, he’d be even more venerated. “Super Pav” booted 700 goals, and it is a measure of the Swiss army knife superstar that he was picked in five different positions in All-Australian teams (once, erroneously, at full-back). Yes, he played great footy pre-Pendlebury, but his 11 years from 2006 still suffice.
At No.10 is another current player, like Pendlebury, who has not gone gently into his mid-30s. Max Gawn, a loose unit in his dissolute youth and slow-burn superstar, is the code’s outstanding ruckman this century, and the best since Simon Madden.
Luke Hodge and Nick Riewoldt would likely make the list if it was a dozen, and some will place them in the top 10 or higher.
Nat Fyfe, too, had serious claims given his two Brownlows, but he did not sustain performance into his 30s, when the footy gods struck him down with injury and his output slumped.
Jonathan Brown was another brave and battered superstar whose peak ranged from 2003 until 2008 or 2009, not quite enough, even though he was the closest approximation to Wayne Carey in the 2000s.
Pendlebury’s capacity to stop time, both when he gains possession, and over the course of his 21 years in the AFL, is his trademark.
My top 10 players of the Scott Pendlebury era (since 2006)
- Lance Franklin
- Gary Ablett jnr
- Marcus Bontempelli
- Chris Judd
- Scott Pendlebury
- Dustin Martin
- Joel Selwood
- Patrick Dangerfield
- Matthew Pavlich
- Max Gawn
Scroll down for profiles of each of the top 10, including some of their most notable (though not all) achievements.
Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.