The Collingwood icon’s 433rd career game mattered so much more than the game of football being played around it as the Magpies claimed a nervy 10-point win over West Coast in front of 90,000 at the MCG. However, the result still matters. Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Rumblings of unwitting umpire favouritism
towards Pendlebury swirled on social media on Saturday, highlighted by one moment where 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. You can watch the incident in the video player above. 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,” he said. “That was from the third row.” There were other cases of controversial calls
going the way of the Magpies, with some suggestions 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, however, the decision was quickly reversed when Reuben Ginbey charged into Daicos to rub it in his face. Daicos fell to the floor like a bag
of spuds. Hawks legend Jason Dunstall said on Kayo Sports it was a “dumb” act by Gibney. He also noted Daicos “went down a bit easily”. There was also controversy surrounding a Josh Daicos handball that ended up resulting 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. In the end, none of it will be remembered as the day 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. 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.
Scott Pendlebury, Collingwood, West Coast, MCG, 433rd game, umpire controversy, Kayo Sports, Hudson, Garry Lyon, Wayne Harmes, Nick Daicos, Jordan De Goey, Reuben Ginbey, Josh Daicos, Roan Steele, Jamie Elliott, Darcy Moore, hamstring injury, knee injury
Umps just letting Collingwood do whatever, classic.
I didn’t even watch the whole thing but the headline says “umpire farce” so… yeah that’s shady. If the cameras showed it crossed the line and nobody called it, what are we even doing? Doesn’t matter who it is, just call it.
How can three umpires miss the out of bounds thing that bad? Sounds like they were too busy starstruck by Pendlebury’s 433rd game or whatever. Also the Wayne Harmes joke like okay cool but it feels like they’re hinting he gets special treatment every time. I’m not saying it’s fixed or anything, but cmon.
Wait so was the controversy that the ball was out but they didn’t call it, or that Pendlebury touched it like that’s automatically grounds for something? I’m confused because the article says “no call was made” but also says “TV cameras appeared” like maybe it was just the angle. Still, Collingwood winning by 10 and everyone yelling umpire favoritism is a rough look.