When Scott Pendlebury claimed an elusive second premiership in game number 383, the Magpie army's biggest roar of appreciation was reserved for their beloved figure.
On Saturday night, some 50 games later, the grizzled veteran will venture where no man has before when he takes the field for his 433rd game at the level
When asked about how he wants to be remembered by the infamously feral supporter base that reveres him so fondly, Pendlebury placed importance on one thing in particular - winning.
"They'll all (the fans) speak differently about what impact or legacy I left on them," Pendlebury said.
"Just someone that always played for the team, and ultimately, was a winner," he continued.
Part of Pendlebury's decision to play on this season, and something that will undoubtedly factor into similar discussions at this season's end, is his ability to still contribute to a side with ambitions of premiership contention.
The Sale native has come under fire in recent weeks for a perceived selfishness, as his management out of two fixtures and the club's decision to adorn his guernsey with a golden number 10 come Saturday's fixture hog headlines.
Pendlebury, rather characteristically, brought the surrounding hubbub back to his ability to contribute on game days, while providing medical reasons for his recent absences.
"I don't think I would have gone on at all if I didn't think I could contribute. I'm an athlete; there's that true self confidence that I've got that I can perform, and I'm looking forward to getting out there on Saturday," he said.
"I certainly didn't plan on having an Achilles injury in Round 3 or 4, and then have to manage that up until even now.
"It's funny - I think I seen (sic) somewhere (in the media) where it said I was moving well before the Hawthorn game; if you had've seen my GPS and top speed, you probably would've run faster than me that day," he told journalists at Monday's media opportunity.
With superlatives surrounding his durability abounding this week, "Pendles"was quick to rattle off a list of injuries he's had to traverse en route to the top of the games-played mountain.
"I've broken both legs twice, I had a shoulder 'reco', fractured my jaw, broken my nose probably six times," he recalled.
Finally, the question of Collingwood's status as contenders was put to the 38-year-old, and again, he went into bat for his club, while crowning one side the "clear benchmark".
"I am really confident that we can contend," he said.
"We've taken it up to a lot the best sides - Fremantle, (we) lost by four points, Hawthorn, a draw, Sydney, a goal.
"Geelong were the side that we played this year that were clearly the benchmark. Playing them was a bit of a surprise with how advanced they were, and how slick and quick they were," he said, while referencing the Cats' recent demolition of the reigning premiers in Brisbane, too.
"It's a long season; there's still a lot of time to go."
