Leigh Matthews slams Collingwood for prioritising ‘romance’ over winning
Four-time premiership coach Leigh Matthews has described Collingwood’s decision to rest Scott Pendlebury as prioritizing “romance” over winning at a time when the Magpies’ season is strained.
The Magpies sit 10th in the standings with a 4-5 win-loss ratio after falling just six points clear of ranking leaders Sydney at the SCG on Friday night.
A brave but narrow defeat against the Swans by an undermanned team led Collingwood coach Craig McRae to defend the club’s Pendlebury management; This decision-making process will enable him to break the match record against West Coast in front of the Magpie Army at the MCG next Saturday.
“Want to celebrate the record for most games in the history of the game here? [in Sydney] Would you rather do it tonight or next week at the MCG?” McRae said Friday night.
“It’s a simple question and, respectfully, we want to make sure we celebrate Pendles in the right way when he plays so many games.
“His body is not as bulletproof as you think. There are five or six day gaps, all the data says he’s just arrived at the border and we’re taking care of him and we’re going to celebrate him appropriately.”
But Collingwood and Brisbane Lions flag-bearer coach Matthews said he was uncomfortable with the concept.
“Okay, he’s going to play the record-breaking match, it’s a big deal, but we’ll make sure it’s at the MCG at the expense of potentially taking four points and your final chances can be won or lost by win or loss,” Matthews told 3AW on Saturday.
“So it seems a bit overdone to me at the moment in terms of the romance overpowering the practical aspect of trying to win as many games as possible to get to the final.”
Matthews said he wanted to bring his best side out every week but clubs like Collingwood and Geelong now had a longer-term view on managing players.
Collingwood’s marketing department will plan a sell-out crowd at the MCG next Saturday afternoon to watch 38-year-old Pendlebury surpass North Melbourne great Brent Harvey’s record of 432 games.
Pendlebury is expected to wear several special sweaters with the number 10 gold on the back during the game. These sweaters will then be auctioned and are expected to fetch the actor up to $500,000.
The AFL agreed to allow the one-off payday to fall outside the salary cap, saying “any commercial arrangements between the parties around the celebration would remain confidential”.
Pendlebury also chose Elite Estate Wine to produce a “SP433 Record Breaking Pinot Noir” to mark the occasion, while Collingwood opted for senior players to wear commemorative SP433 jumpers rather than Indigenous designs during the second week of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
“We would like to reassure all our members and supporters that we will celebrate the historic milestone of Sir Doug Nicholls Round and Scott Pendlebury Side by Side with the importance and respect they each deserve,” club CEO Craig Kelly said in a recent statement.
Despite the historic significance of the impending milestone, Collingwood have badly missed Pendlebury in two of their last three games; He was rested during the five-day break at Hawthorn and again during a six-day break against the Swans.
The Pies were fighting their way out of the weight division on Friday night; They missed captain Darcy Moore (concussion), ruckman Darcy Cameron (ankle), Patrick Lipinski (concussion), Tim Membrey (hamstring) and defender Harry Perryman.
They were further weakened by the loss of ruckman Oscar Steene in the third term after his left knee buckled during a ruck contest.
The 22-year-old rookie will undergo a scan for a suspected anterior cruciate ligament tear in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
But the debate over Collingwood’s handling of Pendlebury will continue to rage this week as Steene remains sidelined for the rest of the season.
“I wouldn’t do it,” said former West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson when talking about resting the Magpie on a fantastic run against Sydney.
A month ago Pendlebury said Collingwood had locked themselves in when he won an Anzac Day medal against Essendon during a match, critics believed he should have been rested.
Instead, he accumulated his most possessions (43) in a single game.
“It goes back to Anzac Day. If you really want to maximize winning every week, he doesn’t play on Anzac Day,” Simpson told SEN on Saturday.
But Simpson said he’s happy to move on and fully embrace Pendlebury’s history-changing moment.
Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said the issue would re-emerge at the end of the season if Collingwood were still challenging for a place in the final.
“We shouldn’t talk too much about it, but when a season gets really tight at the end of the year, say at the end of the year, about where it finishes and where it doesn’t, you see you have a choice and you pick the right option,” Hinkley told SEN.
“I believe he chose to play his record-breaking match in front of 100,000 people at the MCG, which is as it should be. But it’s quite difficult to plan for a season.”
Steene, 22, was assisted off the ground at a crucial stage of the third quarter after his left knee buckled during the duel. The Pies were 17 points ahead at that stage.
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