Collingwood statesman’s unblemished record under threat

Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury is facing a nervous wait, as the MRO deliberates their verdict for his collision with Adelaide defender James Worrell, in Saturday night's encounter.

The 427-gamer appeared to brace for impact as Worrell charged headlong into him, but with no play on the ball, and no eyes for the ball, Pendlebury would appear a moral to face a one-week suspension for the act.

Worrell stayed down initially, but was one of the Crow's best after regaining his feet.

Under AFL guidelines, a high bump that has the capacity to cause serious injury is usually deemed 'medium impact', a designation that carries a one-week penalty.

The AFL has, in recent years, attempted to put an end to their 'good bloke' clause at the tribunal, but the 38-year-old still has another avenue to explore should conventional wisdom prevail, and a likely suspension befalls him.

Per the AFL rules, “a player with an exemplary record may argue their good record constitutes exceptional and compelling circumstances”. No suspensions and just the one fine in a career spanning two decades, would, depending on one's persuasion, constitute exceptional and compelling circumstances.

A week's suspension would also push back the Sale native's attempt to break the all-time V/AFL games record, with the former captain just six games away from outright first place on the list.

The expected ruling further sours a bitter night for the Pies, who never really got going in a 93-79 loss at the hands of the travelling Crows.

Craig McRae labelled his side "average" in the wash-up from the contest, while his opposite number, Matthew Nicks, appeared well pleased after his side broke their MCG hoodoo against one of their biggest modern rivals.

The Crows had not defeated the Magpies at the MCG since 2014, and took full advantage of an undersized Collingwood backline to start their season in an ideal fashion.

"This one felt really good," Nicks said.

"From our point of view, we're sick of losing to them; I mean that from a respect point of view; they're a very good side – and they've had the wood on us.

"That's a big stage...there's a period of time where the chant went up, the Collingwood chant came on – all things that we planned for, all things that we expected – and our guys were able to knuckle down in that moment and a number of moments following that and just get the job done."

Wayne Milera joined Worrell among the Crows best, with an exceptional 34 disposals at 94% efficiency, eight score involvements, and the third-most metres gained on the ground. Riley Thilthorpe took advantage of favourable matchups to register 3 majors, while Alex Neal-Bullen and Josh Rachele both hit double digits for score involvements.

Connection forward of the ball was again a glaring issue for McRae's men, who've registered scores of 78 and 79 to start the season, while sides deemed as legitimate contenders post scores well in excess of 100.

Still, characteristically, McRae found reason for optimism.

“We played the team that finished top of the ladder last year and lost by 14 points. I think there is a lot of blue sky in that, and we had had our chances," he said.

“I said to the players, I feel like we were pretty average tonight and parts of the game got away from us.

“It's an interesting time. It's Round One but we've played two games. There are things we've done well and things we haven't done well."

The Pies appeared destined for another last-gasp comeback under their fifth-year coach, with superstar Nick Daicos again pulling the strings, but costly 50m penalties and a stalling forward line put paid to those hopes.

Maligned recruits Lachie Schultz and Dan Houston continued their strong starts to the season for the Pies, one of few positives in an otherwise dirty evening for Collingwood. 

The Pies have a week off to lick their wounds, courtesy of their involvement in Opening Round, before facing GWS at Marvel Stadium. The Crows host a rampant Western Bulldogs side in a mouthwatering encounter on Friday night.