Garry Lyon and Tim Watson have both heaped praise on Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury for his selfless performance on Carlton gun Patrick Cripps last Friday.
The 30-year-old on-baller was deployed in a run-with role on the influential Blues midfielder, restricting him to only 26 touches, seven marks and five clearances, with Pendlebury telling SEN’s Crunch Time on Saturday that it was the first time in his long and illustrious career he had been utilised as a tagger.
Lyon, a long-outspoken fan of the Magpies captain, says that the change in mindset is significant not only for Pendlebury but for his entire team, branding it as great leadership.
“He had 21 touches, Pendles, which would be low for him normally but the message he sent to his playing group I think is as profound a thing for the Pies as I’ve seen in a long time,” the former Melbourne skipper said on SEN Breakfast.
“I’m hoping that the selflessness that is needed in AFL footy is starting to infiltrate that group and it starts at the top…for maybe the first time I have noticed it, a selflessness about Collingwood and I think that is a huge step for them.”
Lyon added: “At this stage of his career I think this would be more impactful than him getting 30 to 35 touches.
“This could be his legacy moment. That’s saying something given he has won so many Copelands and been an All-Australian, but this is a moment where he influences Taylor Adams and Adam Treloar, because they look at him and go ‘OK, it doesn’t matter where you sit how good you are and what you’ve done, you can be the team player.”
Tim Watson agreed with Lyon, likening the “significant” change to Trent Cotchin’s altered role at Richmond during their premiership-winning 2017 season.
“We know that last year Trent Cotchin did a very similar thing, he took on that role and responsibility of going after players and playing in a more defensive way, a more team-type way as opposed to the way he played previously,” he said.
“Pendlebury has been a similar-type player to what Cotchin was over a period of time. Cotchin is not a tagger, he is just somebody who takes up the responsibility of playing on somebody who might be influential around a stoppage.”
The Magpies travel to Adelaide to take on the Crows this Friday night, with Lyon earmarking Pendlebury to continue his new role on Rory Sloane while Watson says deploying the Pies skipper on former Blue Bryce Gibbs could have a greater impact on the match.
Listen to the best of this morning's SEN Breakfast with Garry Lyon and Tim Watson below: