Is Scott Pendlebury the best ever player for the Collingwood Football Club?
That is certainly up to the subjectivity of the individual but former AFL player and coach Terry Wallace believes his body of work is untouched by any other Magpie.
After five club B&Fs, five All-Australian jackets, three ANZAC medals, an AFLCA champion player and a Norm Smith in the premiership team of 2010 - his highly decorated list speaks for itself.
After playing 293 games since his debut in 2006 after being selected with Collingwood's first pick in the 2005 draft (pick 5), he has since excelled in his role within the midfield - using his high football IQ and silky left foot to make his game look effortless.
Highly regarded in AFL circles, the club captain also sits 12th all time for Brownlow votes and will likely pass Simon Black and former Collingwood legend Dane Swan to sit outright 10th all-time, and become Collingwood's highest ever vote accumulator.
Popular public opinions often rank the Coventry brothers (Syd and Gordon), Bob Rose, Dane Swan and current coach Nathan Buckley as strong arguments for the greatest ever magpie... but with Pendlebury about to hit 300 games and 200 Brownlow votes his case is becoming strong.
“I think Scotty Pendlebury is the best player to have ever played with the Collingwood Football Club. I’ve got him in front of Nathan Buckley," Terry Wallace told SEN Drive.
"I would have Wayne Richardson very, very high, but I would have certainly Scott Pendlebury for his body of work at No.1.”
Pendlebury remains a chance to play this week after breaking his finger in Collingwood's heroic one-point win over West Coast in another close battle between the 2018 Grand Finalists - with Collingwood in the box seat for a top four spot again.
It will always come down to a question over personal opinion, generational arguments and preference but if Collingwood were to go on and have success in the near future whilst Pendlebury is steering the ship, his argument for GOAT status in the black and white would be very hard not to argue.
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