Pendlebury to miss a month with arm injury, delay on 400th
Magpies veteran won’t be available until after his side’s bye after suffering a bicep tear
COLLINGWOOD champion Scott Pendlebury will be sidelined for the next month after suffering a tear in his bicep, delaying his milestone 400th game.
The 36-year-old had already been ruled out of the Magpies’ clash with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Friday night after pulling up sore following last week’s draw against Fremantle.
But Collingwood revealed on Friday they hoped Pendlebury would be back to “full fitness” by round 15.
“Scott was cleared to train on Wednesday and while he got through most of the session, it was during the last tackling drill where he tested it and felt soreness return in that bicep,” Collingwood high performance boss Jarrod Wade said.
“It’s a slight setback for Scott who will rehabilitate his bicep over the coming weeks.
“Scott is the ultimate professional and in positive news for him he will be able to keep his general fitness and remain on a running program during his recovery.”
As well as the match against the Bulldogs, Pendlebury will miss the King’s Birthday clash with Melbourne and a round 14 match against North Melbourne.
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Collingwood has the bye in round 15 and Pendlebury will aim to return for a trip to play Gold Coast the following week.
The dual premiership player is six games away from becoming the sixth member of the VFL/AFL’s 400th club.
If he returns against the Suns and plays every game from there, Pendlebury will reach the milestone against Carlton at the MCG on August 3.
This injury is another blow to the reigning premiers who are already without Jordan De Goey (abdominal), Tom Mitchell (foot), Brody Mihocek (hamstring), Jamie Elliott (vascular), Will Hoskin-Elliott (hamstring) and Mason Cox (knee).
It also means Pendlebury would almost certainly need to play until 2026 if he was to break Brent Harvey’s all-time VFL/AFL games record of 432.
Pendlebury is currently 38 games behind the North Melbourne champion, with a maximum 13 games available this year — if the Pies played in every week of finals including a grand final.
That would leave him needing to play 23 home and away matches, plus three finals, in 2025 to surpass Harvey.
The former captain had been in good form, recently, and had been among Collingwood’s best players over the past few weeks.
But the club said he “expressed soreness” during the thrilling draw with Fremantle in Round 11, even though he was removed from the injury list mid-week.
“Scott was cleared to train on Wednesday and while he got through most of the session, it was during the last tackling drill where he tested it and felt soreness return in that bicep,” high performance boss Jarrod Wade said in a statement.
“Further assessment including an MRI revealed a partial tendon tear of the bicep muscle.
“It’s a slight setback for Scott who will rehabilitate his bicep over the coming weeks, and we expect to see him return to full fitness following our bye in Round 15.
“Scott is the ultimate professional and in positive news for him, he will be able to keep his general fitness and remain on a running program during his recovery.”
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