Collingwood remain in continued talks with their veterans around what the future holds beyond 2024 as "time is of the essence" for contract calls, with coach Craig McRae reaching out to a former Magpies coach for advice on how to "retire your greats".
In the week of his 400th game milestone, former captain Scott Pendlebury revealed a contract extension for 2025 was all but finalised as he looks to extend his decorated tenure at Olympic Park into a 20th season.
McRae wasn't aware the call was "that categoric" when speaking to media on Tuesday, noting he hadn't held the conversation with Pendlebury in regards to having the 36-year-old play-on next year.
Nevertheless, an agreement looms likely as the Magpies hope to have the Norm Smith Medal winner remain on their list for a further 12 months, while decisions on fellow off-contract trio Steele Sidebottom, Jeremy Howe and Will Hoskin-Elliott are also still required.
Set to enter August as the Pies look to keep their season alive, McRae revealed the club is ramping up discussions with its senior contingent as decision time arrives.
"(The time for those talks is) now, we're discussing that now," the Magpies coach said.
"You get to August and time is of the essence for those things. So those discussions are had regularly, but, in my mind, this is where those things start to get to the pointy end.
"I'm not part of the contract stuff, so that's why I'm not aware of things like [Pendlebury's agreement], but I'm part of the discussions."
Wanting to avoid having all of the club's veteran presence depart in the same year, the Magpies may look to 'stagger' their departures over multiple off-seasons as they look to slowly transition to a new age of leaders.
In weighing up how to best address the situation, McRae contacted Collingwood premiership coach Mick Malthouse earlier this year to seek out his thoughts on retiring club greats.
"I spoke to Mick Malthouse about that halfway through the year... How do you retire your greats?" he said.
"One of his suggestions was to stagger it. We're living it, it's all varied. I don't have a particular model right now to settle into other than taking this week by week, and then assess everyone on their own merits."
While Pendlebury's future is seemingly settled, the future is less clear for long-serving teammate Steele Sidebottom, who remains without a deal for next year but has proven to be a reliable asset this season on the wing and across half-back.
Howe is in a different boat, with a contract clause in place that would see the former Demon trigger an extension for next year once he plays his 17th game of the season - currently scheduled for Round 22 against Sydney.
The high-flying defender revealed toย AFL 360ย that he hopes to play on in 2025, wanting to hold a role in the Magpies' backline.
"[The trigger] falls on my milestone game, it's looking like my 250th is going to be at the SCG," Howe said.
"It'd be great (to play on), I feel like it's definitely a conversation we're always having within the club with us old guys.
"If you feel like your body and mind is willing to go on then yeah, but it's a conversation with the club around if we still hold enough influence in the team to be able to keep us around."
Forward Will Hoskin-Elliott can expect to be on Collingwood's list next year, having shown strong form through key patches this season to boot 13 goals in 16 games and assist a further 10 majors in his 13th season in the top flight.
