Scott Pendlebury made his 400th appearance for Collingwood and played a major role in them getting one over their arch rivals Carlton, in a thriller, at the MCG.
He racked up an impressive 27 disposals, 14 contested possessions, nine clearances and six inside 50s to help keep the reigning premiers campaign alive.
It did almost end in heartache, though, as the Blues came hard in the closing stages, scoring the last five goals and had a chance to win it after the siren – however, Mitch McGovern sprayed his kick out on the full to the delight of the Magpies’ supporters.
The 36-year-old becomes just the sixth player in AFL/VFL history to complete the milestone, following in the footsteps of Brent Harvey (432 games), Michael Tuck (426), Shaun Burgoyne (407), Kevin Bartlett (403) and Dustin Fletcher (400).
Talking to the club’s website, in the rooms, he said “I am just pumped that we won to be honest. The whole week was awesome, everyone was so kind. I got so many messages from people who I have crossed paths with on my journey.”
“It was awesome to go through all that, but ultimately I just wanted to win. That was the most important thing for me and it makes the milestone a little bit sweeter.”
He continued “I feel like we played really good for three quarters tonight but the last was a little disappointing. We just couldn’t get field position and credit to Carlton that kept coming, when it didn’t look like it was their night.”
“We have had some great battles with them over the last few years and I thought the crowd for both sides was amazing. It was a great game and in those scenarios it was out of our hands and in theirs. I am glad that we ended on the right side of it.”
Footscray bulldogs
For this weekend only, the Western Bulldogs reverted back to their original name of Footscray in their comfortable 41-point success over a lacklustre Melbourne.
The temporary re-brand by the club, as part of retro round, was to commemorate the 70-year anniversary since their ground-breaking Premiership back in 1954.
Midfielder Adam Treloar, arguably in career-best form, made his 250th AFL appearance and played a key role in helping the Doggies make it four straight; they seem to be timing it just perfectly for a real tilt at claiming a third flag.
Swans humbled in south australia
Sydney coach John Longmire admitted he was ‘completely bewildered’ after watching his players produce a real horror show in crashing to Port Adelaide.
His squad, who have been ladder leaders since the beginning of May, are in the midst of a terrible run of form and have now dropped five of their last six matches.
However, it was more the manner of the defeat that was truly alarming in going down by a massive 112-point scoreline that makes it the club’s heaviest since 1993. Also, the worst ever suffered by the 53-year-old (pictured below) during his 13-year reign at the Swans.
Speaking in the presser, he said “It’s completely and utterly unacceptable. It’s not up to standard. We’ve been in every game this year until last week and we dropped away. Today just didn’t seem like it had a baseline to it at all, in any area.”
“We just didn’t come to compete and that’s the very essence of the game. If you don’t come to compete and fight you get shown up, no matter who you play.”
“We have played three good teams, the last three weeks, who have been in good form but you need to have a baseline and we didn’t have that tonight.”
He added “There is no sort of magic wand that you can wave over it, you have just got to be able to go out there and compete. We’ll sit down and figure out what we need to do as coaches and leaders to turn that around and work out a solution to it.”
Lions make it nine in a row
Brisbane are now up to second on the ladder and demonstrated why they are now the bookmakers’ red-hot favourites, to land the grand prize, after thrashing St.Kilda.
Joe Daniher, Cam Rayner, Zac Bailey and Charlie Cameron amongst the scorers for the rampant Lions that now extend their run to nine consecutive wins since the bye.
Ryan ‘Froggy’ Lester (pictured below) made his 200th appearance, the 21st player at the club and 655th in AFL history to complete the feat – quite the achievement, especially having to overcome several injuries, on the journey, as well as being delisted back in 2022.
jezza kicks a bag
Jeremy Cameron produced another trademark display in front of the big sticks, kicking a bag of six, as Geelong managed to hold off a plucky Adelaide outfit.
They were pushed all the way by their South Australian visitors, in an exciting contest, but got the job done and give themselves a chance of a top four finish.
Tyson Stengle (pictured above) showed no lingering signs from having been hospitalised, after collapsing last Sunday in a Bloom nightclub, as he kept his place in the Cats’ line-up.
hometown hero tom green kicks the winner
Canberra-native Tom Green was the hero, kicking the winner with just three minutes remaining, as Greater Western Sydney came from the clouds to beat Hawthorn.
Just two months ago, in the reverse fixture, the midfielder had been the villain by giving away the free-kick that led to them falling to defeat down in Launceston.
However, in his hometown state, he helped the Giants complete what is their greatest ever fourth-quarter comeback (28 points) in the club’s 12-year history.
Speaking post Siren to Giants TV, the 2 × AFL Rising Star nominee (pictured below) said “I struck it nice and it felt good off the boot, thankfully it went through; the Canberra fans are so amazing and the Tom Green fan club is phenomenal as well.”
“I absolutely love playing here and it was nice to be able to reward our Canberra fans. We have talked about wanting to make it a fortress here again and we have started with three-from-three, this year, which is a good result.”
He went on “Hawthorn were better than us for three quarters but it was a nice finish to the game and I think it speaks volumes to the resilience of this group and that no matter how much we are down by, we are still in games and fight right to the end.”
Midfielder Callan Ward (pictured below), one of three inaugural co-captains during the formation of the Orange Tsunami, became the first ever player to chalk-up 250 games.
bombers edge dockers in a thriller
Essendon’s Sam Durham won’t kick a more important behind, in his career, as that single point was the difference in getting them over the line against Fremantle.
In what was a pulsating arm wrestle, a Jy Amiss snag for the Dockers, his fourth of the afternoon, put the scores level with just 39 seconds left on the clock.
However, there was to be a final twist in the tale with this triumph keeping the Bombers’ hopes alive, for another week at least, of making that all-important eight.
suns lose on the road again…
It proved to be yet another disappointing road trip for Gold Coast, this time over in the state of WA, as they crashed late on to defeat against a spirited West Coast.
This means that the Suns, desperately chasing a first finals appearance in their 13-year club history, are now mathematically out of the picture come September.
For the Eagles, the result signals a first success for interim coach Jarrad Schofield since taking over the reins from Adam Simpson who was sacked last month.
In an encounter pitting the two bottom sides against each other, Nick Larkey kicked a season-high five goals for North Melbourne to get the chocolates over Richmond.
The Kangas won’t be winning any awards this year but Zane Duursma just might after taking a wonderful ‘speccie’ that will put him in ‘Mark of the Year’ contention.
For the Tigers, this latest loss (18th of the season) leaves them starring down the barrel and the reality of finishing ‘wooden spooners’ for the first time since 2007.
Round 21 Results
Footscray (Western Bulldogs) 15.20 (110)
Melbourne 9.5 (59)
West Coast 15.7 (97)
Gold Coast 13.9 (87)
North Melbourne 14.6 (90)
Richmond 10.17 (77)
Geelong 13.12 (90)
Adelaide 13.7 (85)
Collingwood 12.12 (84)
Carlton 11.15 (81)
Port Adelaide 22.16 (148)
Sydney 5.6 (36)
GWS 12.12 (84)
Hawthorn 12.10 (82)
Essendon 13.12 (90)
Fremantle 14.5 (89)
St.Kilda 5.9 (39)
Brisbane 19.10 (124)
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- AFL 2024 Round 20: Lions take honours in Q-Clash, Doggies back in the eight, Western Derby 59, Sicily 150th
- AFL 2024 Round 19: Lions defeat Swans in a classic, Bruest makes history, Bulldogs make a statement, Brad Hill 250th
- AFL 2024 Round 18: Ugle-Hagan stars for Doggies, Scott’s coaching masterclass, Sicily heroics, Simpson’s emotional farewell
- AFL 2024 Round 17: Saints stun ladder leaders, Longmuir 100th game in charge, Bombers pass litmus test, Kangas off the bottom
- AFL 2024 Round 16: Dockers defeat runaway leaders, Hinkley’s emotional interview, Humphries dream debut, Dyson Heppell 250th
Image Credit: Depositphotos
