AFL games record-holder Scott Pendlebury has been in the AFL five years longer than the Gold Coast SUNS. He is a statistician’s delight. Or, more colloquially, a numerical marvel.

Now that he is officially a SUNS player, we can formally introduce the 442-game Collingwood mega-champion, who has been a fixture in the AFL for 21 years, and detail the extraordinary numbers behind the now 38-year-old.

Pendlebury lands on the Gold Coast #1 all-time in AFL history for possessions, #2 for wins, #4 for AFL finals, #5 for Brownlow Medal votes, and #6 for 30-possession games and different teammates.

And he has an unthinkable record in the Collingwood best & fairest award.

It’s a journey that began in the Gippsland town of Sale, population 15,000, in eastern Victoria, which was also home to 1941 Brownlow medallist and six-time Western Bulldogs best & fairest winner Norman Ware, plus comedian Wil Anderson and TV host Mark Howard.

He was coached at the Gippsland Power in 2005 by Paul Hudson, a 245-gamer at Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and Richmond from 1990-2002 and the son of the legendary Peter Hudson.

And, in what is one of the most overused background quirks in recent AFL times, he is a ‘coodabeen basketballer’.

A Victorian junior representative, he was three weeks into a basketball scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra when he quit and returned to play with the Power in the TAC Cup in 2005.

His place in the AIS squad was taken by Patty Mills, who won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs, played 921 NBA games with seven different franchises, including 99 playoff games, and is an Australian Olympian.

2005 AFL Draft

Pendlebury was a member of the Gippsland Power side that won the 2005 TAC Cup and was drafted by Collingwood with pick #5 in 2005. He was the third Power player drafted behind Dale Thomas at #2 and Xavier Ellis at #3.

Ahead of his AFL debut, the 2006 AFL Guide described Pendlebury as “a tall, long-kicking left-footer who averaged 23 disposals a game from the wing” and said he was “a superb athlete with great agility and endurance”. He was likened to St Kilda midfielder Nick Dal Santo.

The Top 10 was:

1 – Marc Murphy – 300 games – Carlton (2006-21)
2 – Dale Thomas – 258 games – Collingwood/Carlton (2006-19)
3 – Xavier Ellis – 120 games – Hawthorn/West Coast (2006-16)
4 – Josh Kennedy – 293 games – Carlton/West Coast (2006-22)
5 – Scott Pendlebury – 442 games – Collingwood (2006-26)
6 – Beau Dowler – 16 games – Hawthorn (2006-09)
7 – Paddy Ryder – 281 games – Essendon/Port Adelaide/St Kilda (2006-22)
8 – Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls – 13 games – Richmond/West Coast (2006-11)
9 – Mitch Clark – 106 games – Brisbane/Melbourne/Geelong (2006-16)
10 – Marcus Drum – 22 games – Fremantle/Geelong (2006-11)

AFL Debut

Hit by glandular fever in his first pre-season, Pendlebury made a belated AFL debut in Round 10, 2006. It was Saturday 3 June, with Collingwood (3rd) against Brisbane (10th) at the MCG. He played 66% game time for 11 possessions, eight contested, a goal, three tackles, two clearances and two bounces.

The Magpies won by 26 points as Nathan Buckley, in his 263rd game, had 29 possessions and six goals for three Brownlow Medal votes.

Future SUN Michael Rischitelli, in his 14th game, and Jared Brennan, in his 29th game, played for Brisbane, who, by chance, were also Pendlebury’s last opponent at Collingwood, when he was forced out of the Round 24 game at the MCG early due to injury.

First Kick – First Goal

Almost predictably, Pendlebury kicked a goal with his first kick. It was 10 minutes into the second quarter at the Gabba, with the Magpies leading the Lions 4.5 to 2.2. Playing on Brad Scott in the midfield, he snuck forward into space.

Nathan Buckley fired a beautiful 50m running kick across his body for Pendlebury to mark between Tim Notting and Jason Roe. He was 40m out, straight in front and kicking to the school end. He made no mistake.

Pendlebury is among 335 members of the AFL’s ‘first kick – first goal’ club, which includes 11 SUNS players: Charlie Dixon, Joey Daye (2011), Josh Glenn, Keegan Brooksby (2015), Jacob Heron, Wil Powell (2018), Chris Burgess (2019), Izak Rankine and Jy Farrar (2020), and Hewago Oea and Elijah Hollands (2022).

Dixon, who kicked the SUNS’ first goal 15 minutes into the club’s first game against Carlton at the Gabba in 2011, also kicked a goal with his second kick six minutes into the second quarter of the same game.

Rising Star

Pendlebury was the Round 4 nomination for the 2007 AFL Rising Star Award and finished runner-up to Joel Selwood overall in one of the award’s hottest fields.

44 – Joel Selwood (Geelong)
37 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
17 – Nathan Jones (Melbourne)
10 – Justin Westhoff (Port Adelaide)
9 – Shannon Hurn (West Coast)

All-Time Possessions

11,169 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
9,656 – Robert Harvey (St Kilda)
9,213 – Brent Harvey (North Melbourne)
9,151 – Kevin Bartlett (Richmond)
8,976 – Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
8,896 – Gary Ablett Jnr (Geelong/Gold Coast)
8,797 – Lachie Neale (Fremantle/Brisbane)

30-Possession Games

132 – Lachie Neale
126 – Gary Ablett Jnr
121 – Sam Mitchell
118 – Robert Harvey
115 – Jack Macrae
114 – Scott Pendlebury
113 – Zach Merrett
108 – Dane Swan
102 – Adam Treloar

Career Bests

Remarkably, in 442 games over 21 years, Pendlebury’s career-best possession game came in his 431st game on Anzac Day 2026. It was Round 7 against Essendon at the MCG, when he had 43 possessions and two goals to earn three Brownlow Medal votes and win the Anzac Day Medal for a record fourth time, having also won it in 2010, 2011 and 2019.

He had one other 40-plus game: 42 against Adelaide at the MCG in 2013.

He had a career-best 742 possessions in 2011. He topped 600 possessions seven times and 500 possessions a further five times.

Brownlow Medal – Top 10 Votes

262 – Gary Ablett Jnr / Patrick Dangerfield
247 – Marcus Bontempelli
245 – Lachie Neale
232 – Patrick Cripps
230 – Scott Pendlebury
227 – Sam Mitchell
218.5 – Gary Dempsey
215 – Robert Harvey
214 – Joel Selwood

Pendlebury polled his first vote in his 28th game against Sydney in 2007 and polled three times for seven votes in 2008, including his first ‘three’ in his 52nd game against Sydney.

In the next 12 years he polled 13-21-24-15-21-16-15-17-15-15-14-13.

He was 4th in 2010-11, 6th in 2013 and 10th in 2012, and seven times finished 11th-20th: 11th in 2014 and 2020, 12th in 2017, 14th in 2009, 15th in 2015-16 and 16th in 2018. Plus, he was 21st in 2019.

In the 12 years from 2009-20, he polled in Collingwood’s top three: 1-2-2-3-2-1-2-2-1-3-3-1.

In 409 voting games, excluding finals, he polled 107 times: 39 times he polled three votes, 45 times he polled two votes and 23 times he polled one vote, for an average of 0.56 votes per game. And he’s one of only 10 players to poll 100 times in the Brownlow.

122 – Gary Ablett Jnr
112 – Patrick Dangerfield
108 – Sam Mitchell
107 – Scott Pendlebury
106 – Gary Dempsey, Lachie Neale
102 – Marcus Bontempelli, Patrick Cripps
101 – Robert Harvey, Joel Selwood

AFL Finals – Top 10

40 – Joel Selwood (Geelong)
39 – Michael Tuck (Hawthorn)
35 – Shaun Burgoyne (Port Adelaide/Hawthorn)
33 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
33 – Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide/Geelong)
32 – Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
31 – Charlie Cameron (Adelaide/Brisbane)

He’s played five grand finals for a draw and a 56-point win against St Kilda in 2010, a 38-point loss to Geelong in 2011, a five-point loss to West Coast in 2018 and a four-point win over Brisbane in 2023.

He won the Norm Smith Medal in the 2010 grand final replay, when he had a game-high 29 possessions, 11 tackles and six clearances.

AFL Wins – Top 10

301 – Michael Tuck (Hawthorn)
266 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
263 – Shaun Burgoyne (Port Adelaide/Hawthorn)
260 – Kevin Bartlett (Richmond)
259 – Joel Selwood (Geelong)
251 – Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
238 – Bruce Doull (Carlton)
235 – Brent Harvey (North Melbourne)
234 – Dustin Fletcher (Essendon)
230 – Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide/Geelong)

Collingwood B&F

He is a five-time winner of the Collingwood best & fairest, equal with five-time winner and Brownlow medallist Len Thompson, one behind Nathan Buckley and one ahead of Bob Rose.

He won in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 and, even more remarkably, from 2007-25 he finished top 10 a total of 19 times, including 14 times in the top three.

He was runner-up six times to six different players: Travis Cloke (2007), Dane Swan (2010), Dayne Beams (2012), Brodie Grundy (2019), Taylor Adams (2020) and Jack Crisp (2022). And he was third in 2008, 2018 and 2021. He was 5th in 2009 and 2023, 6th in 2017 and 2024, and 8th in 2025.

From 2008-25 he finished 2-3-5-2-1-2-1-1-1-1-6-3-2-2-3-2-5-6-8.

He was also AFLCA Champion Player of the Year in 2013.

All-Australian

Pendlebury, a six-time All-Australian in 2010-11-12-13-14 and 2019, is among the top 20 players for most selections all-time.

9 – Max Gawn
8 – Gary Ablett Jnr, Robert Harvey, Mark Ricciuto, Lance Franklin, Patrick Dangerfield, Marcus Bontempelli
7 – Craig Bradley, Paul Roos, Wayne Carey, Nathan Buckley
6 – Corey Enright, Matthew Scarlett, Dean Cox, Brad Johnson, Scott Pendlebury, Joel Selwood, Chris Judd, Matthew Pavlich, Ben Cousins

And, having also been chosen in the All-Australian squad in 2009, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020 without making the final team, his 11 combined selections are second only to Lance Franklin’s 12 and ahead of Marcus Bontempelli’s 10.

Games as Captain

Collingwood captain 206 times from 2014-22 after succeeding 2010 premiership skipper Nick Maxwell, Pendlebury is #7 on the AFL list for most games as captain.

245 – Joel Selwood (Geelong)
226 – Stephen Kernahan (Carlton)
224 – Dick Reynolds (Essendon)
221 – Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
212 – Ted Whitten (Western Bulldogs)
210 – Michael Voss (Brisbane)
206 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
190 – Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)
188 – John Nicholls (Carlton)
188 – Trent Cotchin (Richmond)

He was voted AFLPA Best Captain by his peers in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

“Mr (Almost) Invincible”

From his first game at Collingwood until his last, Pendlebury played 442 of a possible 484 games. And of the 42 he missed, seven were this year. He missed six in 2017, four each in 2009, 2012, 2020 and 2021, and three each in 2024 and 2025.

In six years he played every game: 2010-11-13-15-16-19. In five years he missed just one game: 2008-14-18-22-23. And in 2007 he missed two games.

Perhaps even more remarkably, after his belated start to his first season in 2006, he played Collingwood’s opening game of the season every year from 2007-26.

So, 20 times Pendlebury played Round 1, or the equivalent. Sixty-two of the SUNS’ 162 players have played fewer than 20 games in their entire careers.

The Pendlebury ‘Missed Games Report’ from 2007-25 reads:

2007 – 2 foot
2008 – 1 back
2009 – 1 knee, 1 back, 2 fibula
2012 – 4 tibia
2014 – 1 quad
2017 – 6 finger
2018 – 1 ankle
2020 – 4 quad
2021 – 4 leg
2022 – 1 ill
2023 – 1 eye
2024 – 3 bicep
2025 – 1 managed, 1 sore, 1 ill

In 2026, when he sat out seven games, three were officially ‘managed’ and four, all singles, injured.

He missed three finals through injury: two with a fibula injury in 2009 and what would have been his last Collingwood game, in the 2026 wildcard final, with a knee problem.

And not only was he ‘invincible’ in Round 1, but he also never missed a game in Rounds 2, 3, 5, 6 or 16.

He missed a total of eight games in Rounds 1-9 in his entire career. In four of them he was ill once, had an eye problem once and twice was managed.

Twelve of the games he missed were from Round 20 onwards.

Oldest Players

Having played his 442nd and last game for Collingwood against Brisbane at the MCG on 21 August this year, he is the 9th-oldest player in AFL history. And he’ll be the 7th-oldest player assuming a Round 1 SUNS debut next year.

1 – 43 years, 50 days – Vic Cumberland – St Kilda – 1920
2 – 40 years, 23 days – Dustin Fletcher – Essendon – 2015
3 – 39 years, 296 days – Jack Leith – Melbourne – 1912
4 – 39 years, 239 days – Syd Barker – North Melbourne – 1927
5 – 39 years, 181 days – Jim Flynn – Carlton – 1910
6 – 39 years, 95 days – Ted Rowell – Collingwood – 1915
7 – 39 years, 69-72 days – Scott Pendlebury – Gold Coast – 2027 **
8 – 38 years, 304 days – Shaun Burgoyne – Hawthorn – 2021
9 – 38 years, 291 days – Craig Bradley – Carlton – 2002
10 – 38 years, 227 days – Scott Pendlebury – Collingwood – 2026
11 – 38 years, 144 days – Les Hughes – Collingwood – 1922

Only 15 players in history have played at 38 or beyond.

And only five SUNS have topped 33: Levi Casboult (34 years, 9 days) was the oldest, followed by Jarrod Witts (33 years, 341 days), Michael Rischitelli (33 years, 228 days), Gary Ablett Jnr (33 years, 83 days) and Jarrod Harbrow (33 years, 34 days).

Coaches

Damien Hardwick will be only the fifth person to coach Pendlebury in his AFL career. He played under only four coaches at Collingwood: 127 games under Mick Malthouse (2006-11), 202 games under Nathan Buckley (2012-21), five games under caretaker coach Robert Harvey (2021) and 108 games under Craig McRae (2022-26).

Most Teammates – Top 10

210 – Jack Gunston (Adelaide/Hawthorn/Brisbane)
201 – Adam Treloar (GWS/Collingwood/Western Bulldogs)
195 – Brad Hill (Hawthorn/Fremantle/St Kilda)
183 – Jake Stringer (Essendon/Western Bulldogs/GWS)
181 – Adam Saad (Gold Coast/Essendon/Carlton)
180 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
180 – Jeremy Howe (Melbourne/Collingwood)
180 – Tom Lynch (Gold Coast/Richmond)
176 – Dion Prestia (Gold Coast/Richmond)
176 – Jack Steele (GWS/St Kilda/Melbourne)
176 – Blake Acres (St Kilda/Fremantle/Carlton)

Among other current SUNS players, Jarrod Witts is #1 at 160.

Eleven Venues Only

Pendlebury has played at only 11 different AFL venues: 10 in state capital cities plus People First Stadium on the Gold Coast.

He’s played most often at the MCG, a record 280 times, and at Marvel Stadium (58), the Gabba (21), Adelaide Oval (15), Subiaco Oval (12), People First Stadium (10), Stadium Australia (10), the SCG (10), Optus Stadium (9), Engie Stadium (9) and Football Park (8).

Steele Sidebottom (237) and Kevin Bartlett (200) are the only other players to play 200 games at ‘headquarters’, where Pendlebury’s 7,050 possessions are more than all but 39 players in history have had in their entire careers.

SUNS pair David Swallow and Jarrod Witts share the AFL record for playing at the most different AFL venues, at 22.

Swallow played at People First Stadium, the Gabba, Cairns and Townsville in Queensland; the SCG and Engie Stadium in New South Wales; the MCG, Marvel Stadium, Geelong and Ballarat in Victoria; Adelaide Oval, Football Park, Mount Barker and Norwood in South Australia; Optus Stadium and Subiaco Oval in Western Australia; Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania; Alice Springs and Darwin in the Northern Territory; Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory; and China.

In the only change to Swallow’s exhaustive travel diary, Witts did not play at Football Park, the original AFL venue in Adelaide, but has added Barossa Park outside Adelaide.

The (Non) Travel Factor

This is another powerful Pendlebury statistic that undeniably identifies the travel load of a big Victorian club like Collingwood in comparison to Gold Coast.

Officially, Pendlebury played 104 of 442 Collingwood games at interstate or non-Victorian venues, but even that’s a distortion because eight of those were at the Gabba in the 2020 COVID season, when Collingwood were based in south-east Queensland.

He is yet to play in Geelong or Ballarat.

In comparison, David Swallow, who played 193 fewer games, flew 56 times to Melbourne, which included eight games in Darwin and four in Ballarat that required a bus add-on, plus 16 times to Adelaide, 15 times to Perth, 14 times to Sydney, seven times to Cairns, seven times to Darwin, four times to Canberra, three times to Launceston, and once each to Townsville, Hobart, Alice Springs … and China.

Draws

Pendlebury has played in six draws, fewer than only six players. They are Jack Riewoldt (8), Brad Johnson (7), Barry Davis (7), Bill Hutchison (7), Steele Sidebottom (7) and Shane Edwards (7).

Jumper Numbers

Pendlebury played his first nine games in 2006 in jumper #16. He switched to #10 in 2007 after the retirement of Blake Caracella, who had played at Essendon, 126 games in #33, and Brisbane, 34 games in #1, before playing 27 games at Collingwood in #10 in 2005-06.

Pendlebury played 433 games in #10, the most by any player in any number.

The other five 400-gamers all wore one number throughout their entire careers: Brent Harvey played 432 games in #29, Michael Tuck 426 games in #17, Kevin Bartlett 403 games in #29 and Dustin Fletcher 400 games in #31.

Free Kicks

Pendlebury has received 533 free kicks over his career, second only to Patrick Dangerfield’s 606 among current players and ahead of Patrick Cripps’ 514. He has conceded only 232 free kicks for a ‘net’ free-kick tally of ‘plus 301’.

The Pendlebury net of ‘plus 301’ is the best among current AFL players, ahead of Zach Merrett (plus 267), Jack Macrae (plus 212), Patrick Dangerfield (plus 170), Josh Dunkley (plus 143), Lachie Neale (plus 137), Dylan Moore (plus 133), Max Gawn (plus 122), and Isaac Heeney and Caleb Serong (plus 111).

The best in SUNS history is the ‘plus 91’ of Jarrod Witts, followed by the ‘plus 60’ of Sam Collins, ‘plus 59’ of Gary Ablett and ‘plus 53’ of Touk Miller.

In 231 games Pendlebury finished in the ‘plus’ zone, and 130 times he was ‘break-even’. He was ‘minus 1’ 65 times and ‘minus 2’ 13 times. He was ‘minus 3’ twice, in games #70 and #413, and ‘minus 4’ once, in game #27.

His best was ‘plus 7’ in game #195, when he received seven free kicks and did not concede any.

Tackles, Goal Assists, Clearances & Bounces

Among the 669 players who appeared in the AFL in 2026, Pendlebury’s career tackle count of 2,031 is #1, ahead of Jack Steele (1,609) and Luke Parker (1,598). His 333 goal assists rank #1, ahead of Patrick Dangerfield (292), Taylor Walker (248) and Marcus Bontempelli (246), and his 1,910 clearances rank #3 behind Lachie Neale (2,056) and Dangerfield (1,924).

And with 206 running bounces, he is one of 16 at 200-plus. He’s #15. Delisted ex-SUN Adam Saad (741) leads from the retired Adam Treloar (317), Nick Blakey (292) and Daniel Rioli (280).

On the Goal Sheet

Pendlebury has kicked 209 goals in 442 games. His career best is four in Round 8, 2012, a 12-point Friday night MCG win against Geelong in game #135. It was Nathan Buckley’s eighth game as Magpies coach and Chris Scott’s 33rd game in charge of the Cats.

He kicked three goals in a game four times, two goals 34 times and one goal 122 times. And he has been goalless 280 times.

Against the SUNS

Pendlebury played 16 times against the SUNS for an 11-5 record. He faced the club once each year from 2011-21, twice in 2022, and once each in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

His most memorable game against his new club was his 200th career game in Round 8, 2015 at People First Stadium. He had 35 possessions and three goals for three Brownlow Medal votes.

 Witts, who played 39 of his 40 games for Collingwood alongside Pendlebury, played his 30th game in black and white in Pendlebury’s 200th after he debuted, aged 20, in Pendlebury’s 154th game in 2013.

The only player from the SUNS side in Pendlebury’s 200th who is still at the club is Touk Miller. It was his eighth game.

Overall against the SUNS, Pendlebury had three 30-possession games and polled four times in the Brownlow Medal for a total of 11 votes while averaging 24.75 possessions.

And … Believe It or Not!

Pendlebury made his AFL debut on 3 June 2006, 124 days before Leo Lombard was born. And he played his 30th game and his first final on 8 September 2007, seven days after Dylan Patterson was born.