Pendlebury was on the interchange bench when Murphy ruled himself out. “I went over and gave him a cuddle and I said ‘We’ve got this.’ But in my mind I was thinking,‘geez’,like,I didn’t want to lose him because he’s so important to how we play.”
Howe covered for Murphy. “Howe flipped over to[Eric] Hipwood and Crispy went back. So we shuffled that way.”
The Lions briefly grabbed the lead against the flow,via Bailey’s stunner,but the Pies had regained the momentum on the siren when De Goey unloaded from 55m. The score was 4.4 to 3.0 at quarter-time.
Pendlebury felt De Goey was among the Magpies’ best “by a mile”,despite a modest tally of 18 disposals for the game.
“It was going to be a tricky day for Jordy.[Josh] Dunkley was clearly going to go to him,and he hasn’t really been tagged Jordy,too heavily.”
De Goey was “a bang for buck player.” who had applied pressure and “fight around the contest” for teammates. Too many AFL footballers “worry about their numbers,” Pendlebury said.
“Jordy worries about winning.”
Second quarter:“I wasn’t too stressed about what was going to happen next. I was just enjoying it.”
Charlie Cameron explodes for a pair of fast and furious goals,creates another for the classy Hugh McCluggage,and Joe Daniher boots his first. When McCarthy threads one from the members’ pocket,the Lions have – in defiance of forward entries – crept out to a 13-point lead.
Pendlebury didn’t necessarily think Collingwood were in strife,though. “Games of momentum. This is their little run.” But Collingwood needed a response.
A theme that emerged from this rewatching was Collingwood’s knack for winning – and scoring from – centre bounces when challenged. This time,Tom Mitchell is the main protagonist. “Such a good kick,” said Pendlebury of Mitchell’s weighted pass to Crisp.
Crisp’s shot from 50m on an angle arrested the Lions’ momentum. “That was big ... I thought we were,marginally,the better side to this point but their potency is just next level.”
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The ensuing minutes belong to Norm Smith medallist Hill,who boots his third and fourth goals – a weaving snap (his fourth) and a goal off the back of a speccie over Brandon Starcevich.
“Most important,he went back and finished,” said Pendlebury of the screamer,reckoning Hill might have booted six. Had he ever reached Hill’s heights? “Only when I hike the mountains in Arizona.”
Seconds before half-time,Pendlebury’s on the bench when Nick Daicos took the ball,got it back,abruptly changed direction and found Will Hoskin-Elliott in space. The hyphen saw Crisp open. Again,the Pies would gain a crucial goal after the siren from long range to make it 9.9 to 9.3 at the long break.
“‘Fly’[McRae] was on the bench going off his head – get numbers back,we’re happy going in with the draw,” said Pendlebury. “Then Nick ended up with it,and he’s running. Fly’s like ‘boundary,boundary’. And then he[Daicos] ducked back inside.”
When Crisp marked,McRae remarked,“… or go back through the middle and we’ll kick a goal.”
“We all had a bit of a laugh on the bench.”
Mid-quarter,Pendlebury recognised that this was “an amazing game” to play in. “I wasn’t too stressed about what was going to happen next. I was just enjoying it.”
Collingwood felt positive at half-time. “The overwhelming feeling was ... we feel comfortable.”
Third quarter:“He wasn’t confident,not from there ... so I was pretty keen if there was a gap that opened up I’d dart in there.”
Collingwood are creating opportunities,but not converting for almost the duration of the quarter,which yields 1.6 to the Lions’ 2.2 from fewer chances. “We can’t kick straight,” said Pendlebury.
The game has tightened. Pendlebury felt the Lions had created better shots,such as the second goal of the quarter,a creation of Daniher,that ended with Deven Robertson in the goal square and putting the Lions in front.
Collingwood had been in command,eight points ahead,when Markov was pinged for a 50m penalty on the outer wing (umpire Simon Meredith calling him to “stand”). Markov is backpedalling off the mark when the 50 is paid.
McCluggage converts from 40m,prompting Pendlebury to approach Meredith and seek clarification. The margin is cut to two points. “In a grand final,it’s a soft goal to give up.
“I remember saying to him[Meredith] like ‘There’s 100,000 people there,he’s not going to hear you from 20 metres away’.” Pendlebury felt Markov “backs straight out” once he knew McCluggage had marked.
“I said,‘What do you think’[to Meredith]. He goes ‘I’ve said to him to stand.’
“It’s always a respectful discussion. You’re trying to work it so something happens later they might be like,‘We’ve had this discussion’.” Later,Sidebottom will be awarded a telling 50m penalty. “It helped us then.”
Pendlebury booted Collingwood’s sole goal for the term,having overheard Hill’s conversation with Sidebottom after Bobby marked. “I heard Bobby say to Steele when he marked it – ‘Should I snap or should I drop punt?’ He’s not confident,not from there[the boundary]. So I was pretty keen if there was a gap that opened up,I’d dart in there.”
Hill sees Pendlebury and finds him on a reduced angle. Pendlebury slotted it from 30m,regaining the lead with two minutes left. “I was pretty glad to knock it over because we’d kicked a few points ... no,I wasn’t nervous,that’s my preferred side.”
Summary,with the score 10.15 to 11.5 in Collingwood’s favour at three-quarter-time:“We’re doing a lot right but the gap’s not in the game.”
Fourth quarter:“I just gave him the thumbs-up and said,‘Boys ... we’re scoring again’.”
The epic final quarter brings peak Pendlebury,as player and director.
Collingwood lead for all bar the 20 seconds after Cameron’s goal. Again,they have an edge in play,without finding a goal until red time.
Pendlebury,Daicos and De Goey are in for the most critical centre bounces. Pendlebury was swapping with Mitchell. “Our break glass[at centre bounces] is just hit it to Jordy.”
Pendlebury had been told at three-quarter-time:“You’re just going to run the quarter out. I said,‘That’s fine’.” He would take one break early. He was out there “obviously for strategy as well”.
Pendlebury will finish the quarter with 11 disposals (four contested),three tackles,and two score involvements. No numbers measure his director’s contribution.
In one passage,on the outer flank (seven to eight minutes on the clock),the veteran receives a handball from Maynard,finds Nick Daicos,gets it back and chips short to Isaac Quaynor,eating up the clock. “I don’t want to kick it back to a contest when there’s so many gaps.”
Dunkley soon is standing next to Pendlebury at stoppages,but Pendlebury says he wasn’t being tagged.
“Late in the quarter when I went behind the ball,he doesn’t follow me.”
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Earlier,Pendlebury manages a trademark slow-motion baulk after gathering a loose ball,hits Jack Ginnivan in space,but Ginnivan’s rushed kick is high and to the advantage of Starcevich,not Hill. “I remember saying to him the next day ... you could kick that along the ground and Bobby would have got that.”
Pendlebury said of Cameron’s super goal:“Much as I was pissed off,I also appreciated the brilliance that took. He beat ‘Bruz’[Brayden Maynard],who’s bloody hard to beat and then he pushes ‘Q’[Quaynor] off the ball – who never loses one on ones ... keeps his feet,kicks a goal.”
Once De Goey has delivered the gunshot to recapture the lead,Pendlebury looked to McRae and the signboard. As emerged after the game,the signal for “Rocca” denotes that they try to score while “Presti” (as in Prestigiacomo) is code for defensive mode.
The Rocca sign remained up. “I was pointing,and I was asking him to flip it and he[McRae] was like nup ... I just gave him the thumbs up and said,‘Boys,we’re still in Rocca play here. Like we’re scoring again’.”
From the next bounce,Quaynor gathers the loose ball after a soccer kick. He chips to Sidebottom,who is flung to the ground by Jarrod Berry on the wing. It’s a 50m penalty. Sidebottom grabs his leg,faking cramp.
Pendlebury is near his old friend,whom nearly all think won’t cover 55m. “Yes,I was confident. He’s got the breeze at his back and he’s a big kick. He just doesn’t kick big very often.”
Sidebottom’s bomb sails through. He jumps into Pendlebury in an embrace. “He hit me that hard he had to hold me up.”
Pendlebury is in the next bounce – Presti mode. He will play as the spare behind the ball thereafter.
Lincoln McCarthy has the ball as the clock ticks down. The 10-point margin demands a risk. “I knew McCarthy would come in[the corridor] ... they had to do something.” Thus,Pendlebury effects a spoil that might have led to another Collingwood goal if the ball had reached Hill goal side. A ball-up suffices.
Crisp intercept marks with three minutes on the clock,60 metres out on a day when he’s booted two from 50m.
Pendlebury,standing inside of Crisp,advises that he kick sideways[to Howe]. “He’s got to kick that from inside the square ... I don’t think he’s going to do that,even if he gets it close and gets a point,a point doesn’t matter.” It is seconds that matter now.
Keidean Coleman gets a too-high from the stoppage and the Lions surge forward. Jarryd Lyons and McCluggage combine on the boundary,McCluggage cleverly holding the ball in play,to create a mark and goal for Daniher,. “I think Joe was their best player.”
Just 93 seconds left. “You have to get it done,” said Pendlebury.
Berry does another spin from the ball-up and gets a kick forward,there’s a scramble and Lachie Neale is legged 65 m out. The questionable advantage is paid when Bailey kicks over his shoulder. Moore fists a spoil. “Huge spoil by Darce.”
Many felt the advantage call was unfair,depriving the Lions of a final chance to snatch it. “I’m neither here nor there,” said Pendlebury of the decision. “My job’s to keep playing,isn’t it?
“If it’s an advantage and they kick it over their head and they take a chest mark,we’ve still got to play,don’t we?”
Under duress,Nick Daicos coolly kicks to Hoskin-Elliott. “That kick. Like,not many players do that.”
Pendlebury is among the throng around the footy,along with fellow spare Brody Mihocek. Mitchell draws a high contact free from Gardiner. He kicks to the loose Pendlebury,who “kicks back to Mitch”.
“Now,I’m setting up in case there’s re-entry.”
Fewer than 30 seconds remain. Mihocek boots long down the line to Cox. The Pies can’t lose.
“Never felt so relieved to hear a siren in my life,” said the director.
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