Collingwood Magpies coach Craig McRae describes what Jamie Elliott told him after injuring his knee on the day of record game 433 for Scott Pendlebury
Collingwood will be sweating for superb forward Jamie Elliott after suffering a devastating knee injury that looks season-ending, on the day Scott Pendlebury celebrated his record-breaking 433rd game with a hard-fought 10-point win over West Coast, 13.14 (92) to 12.10 (82).
Elliott landed heavily after leaping high to claim a point late in the final term, and when his knee went under him on the descent, the life of Pendlebury’s historic milestone was momentarily extinguished.
A heated brawl broke out between the two parties as Elliott lay on the ground clutching his knee.
Collingwood players objected to Eagles defender Tylar Young, but Eagles coach Andrew McQualter was quick to clear Young of any tunneling suggestions after the game.
“First of all, I really hope Jamie is okay. It looked like a bad incident. You don’t want anyone to get hurt,” McQualter said.
“But I looked back and I’m pretty sure Tylar Young did nothing wrong in that marking contest.
“He was competing for the ball, he was participating in a marking competition and unfortunately accidents happen in our game.
“I don’t know why they’re protesting. It’s disappointing Jamie got injured but it’s nothing more than that.”
Elliott was lifted off the ground on a cart and was seen in the rooms on crutches after the game as he spoke to Magpies coach Craig McRae.
“It’s too early to make any diagnosis other than we’re hopeful.” [of avoiding a serious knee issue]Collingwood coach Craig McRae said: “We hope for the best. We don’t know until scans [are taken]. He’s in a pretty good mood and we won’t rule anything out.
“Obviously he’s injured. We just don’t know to what extent yet.”
McRae said it was difficult to comment on the legality of the scoring contest because he was focused on Elliott at the time.
“When you’re in the air, you’re vulnerable,” McRae said. “I watched the replay and was more concerned about Jamie watching his body movements rather than the actual incident.
“When we talked to Jamie later, he said, ‘Why did I go to that destination?’ he said. He felt truly vulnerable. He says he feels it in the air, ‘Oh, no’.
“But I don’t know, it’s hard to comment on the incident itself.”
As well as dealing with the effects of losing his brilliant forward, McRae lamented another injury to captain Darcy Moore, who suffered a back injury during the second term.
The Premiership defender stumbled and fell while racing against Eagles big man Bailey Williams, then limped off the ground. He no longer participated in the game.
Despite criticism from commentators that he was putting the injured Moore at risk in the race, McRae said he did not regret calling on his skipper to provide temporary assistance to Darcy Cameron.
“I had high hopes that Darcy Moore would be our second gig. I’ve been thinking about it for about a month,” McRae said.
“We wanted to do it against the Cats but he had a concussion. I could see it was his dad. [Brownlow medallist Peter Moore]I’m just marking everything behind the game.
“But unfortunately he injured his hamstring again; he can’t move himself.”
Moore, 30, has played just four games so far this year due to devastating injuries. It didn’t help that Collingwood lost Oscar Steene to an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Sydney last week.
Will Hayes was also taken off the floor in the last quarter due to a dislocated shoulder during a marking contest. McRae thought he would be out for weeks.
Despite the triple injury blow, Pendlebury’s incredible afternoon was hard to get over.
The coach said it was one of the greatest events in Collingwood history.
“I’ll never forget this,” he said. “When you run into the ground and see the whole history of the football club – so many of the living greats and the people who built the foundations to make it what it is – you feel so grateful to have been a part of it,” he said.
McRae said that he requested a last effort from the playing group as the match entered the last quarter on a knife edge. Collingwood was ahead by 29 points in the third quarter and was ahead by 11 points at the last change.
“It wasn’t really about style points, it wasn’t really about margins or anything like that, it was just about honoring ‘Pendles,'” McRae said.
“I said to the players at three quarters, let’s make sure we lay our heads on the pillow tonight knowing that we did everything we could for this guy because of what he did for all of us tonight.”
Although this event belonged to a history-making legend, the match belonged to Nick Daicos; This is further proof that Pendlebury took over the baton long before surpassing the game record.
The tireless Daicos was key to dragging his side over the line in a seesaw arm wrestle.
He had an outstanding performance in the first half with 21 tackles, nine of which were included in the score, and a goal.
By the end of the game he finished with 34 disposals and three goals; Including the sealer who bent his back and beat the Eagles opposition to score in the 23rd minute of the final term.
Pendlebury won every minute of their record-breaking game in front of a black-and-white dominated crowd of 90,028, who chanted his name in tribute to the No.10 in the 10th minute of the opening period.
Having all players wear gold numbers on their backs in a united front was an idea first put forward by Pendlebury and later championed by McRae.
Pendlebury admitted post-match that he was dealing with a lingering hand injury. It didn’t help that his first taste of action was a brutal clash with young bull Harley Reid.
The 21-year-old former No. 1 draft pick collected the ball at midfield in his 50th game and then laid Pendlebury down with a brutal “no contest.”
“He’s had a great start to his career,” McQualter said of Reid. “He’s probably been subjected to more scrutiny than most or anyone in his first 50 games, just the publicity that comes with being Harley, but I think he’s handled it very well.”
McQualter said Reid ran to the bench after fending off Pendlebury and shouted, “Did you see me, did you see me?”
“He was pretty happy with it. That’s what he does. He’s a competitor and he had some good moments there,” the Eagles coach said.
Not to be outdone, the old warrior rose to his feet two minutes later when he dropped his shoulder and lobbed the ball to Reid, knocking him over the boundary line.
The two-time championship winner also had to deal with a double tag from Willem Duursma and Brady Hough throughout the match.
“You can’t tell me they didn’t come here today on a mission,” McRae said. “They’re starting to tag ‘Pendles.’ They came here to crash the party, to ask for a better era.
“We had to fight for everything. It wasn’t anything we didn’t win. Everything was a hard fight and that will benefit us.”
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