Fears Collingwood may be the next West Coast as ageing list could get 'mightily ugly' in the next few years

Collingwood finds itself in an incredibly tricky spot after nine weeks of the 2026 season.

They sit 10th on the ladder and look a team on the cusp of finals quality, but have been blown out by both of last year's grand finalists in Brisbane and Geelong this season.

The problems stem from the fact that they have the single oldest list in the AFL in terms of both average age and average games experience.

READ MORE: 'Sickening' Richmond injury list spiralling out of control

READ MORE: 'Hope you're happy': Star calls out disgusting message

READ MORE: Kerr's rumoured $1.8m replacement eliminates Chelsea in FA Cup

Were they to win the flag this year, they would become the oldest list to do so in the competition's history.

They have gone all-in across recent seasons trying to push for another premiership after their 2023 success, publicly stating they were happy to trade draft picks for players, cashing in first-round picks for the likes of Dan Houston and Lachie Schultz.

Players drafted by the Pies in the 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 drafts have combined for fewer than 40 total games for the club since arriving. By comparison, St Kilda and Hawthorn's same crops has already crossed 200.

Collingwood moved on veterans like Mason Cox, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Oleg Markov and Tom Mitchell last season, but still will have 12 players on their list over the age of 30 come the end of the year without further changes.

Scott Pendlebury is 38, Jeremy Howe and Steele Sidebottom 35, Jamie Elliott 33, Jack Crisp will be 33 - all of whom are still integral players to the club's success in 2026.

Meanwhile, the youngest 12 players on their list have combined for nine total games played. Third round draftee Will Hayes accounts for six of those.

By comparison, the next oldest team in the competition, Brisbane, has a youngest 12 that have combined for well over 100 games. Another contending team in Fremantle has 71 games combined.

Those two teams have naturally hit recent drafts much harder than the Magpies, which is clearly evident.

The top-of-the-table Sydney sit closer to Collingwood's mark with just 29 games from their group, but have Errol Gulden, Chad Warner, Malcom Rosas, Braeden Campbell, Logan McDonald, Jai Serong, Matt Roberts and Angus Sheldrick between the ages of 22 and 24.

Of Collingwood's players under the age of 25, only Nick Daicos stands out as a long term star at this stage. Ned Long is also a potential 100-plus-game player.

It's worth mentioning that Daicos missed the Brisbane game and was well restricted by a tag against the Cats, leading to the club's two worst results of the season.

The fear for Collingwood is that their lack of general talent under the age of 27 will lead to a West Coast or North Melbourne style drought at the bottom of the ladder.

Both the Eagles and the Kangaroos pushed too hard in the 2010s with ageing lists and ended up in deep rebuilds that are still sputtering along in 2026, though the Roos finally appear to be on the up.

Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly's recent comments on the club's shift in focus from heavy player trade recruitment previously to hitting the draft this year spoke to that unspoken fear.

"Our plan is to continue to go to the draft and get two draft picks every year," Kelly told SEN before the Hawthorn draw.

"We've been struggling, because in previous years, before the current (list management) group were there, we gave up our first round draft picks a little bit too easily, and we wanted to keep those.

"We want to get to the draft this year, but we also want to trade in and bring in quality individual players.

"I think we've done a pretty good job with (Dan) Houston and also Harry Perryman, Dan McStay, those guys, that gives us the ability to bring in a free agent. We are a destination club."

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes believes things could get "ugly" for the Magpies if they don't quickly flip the age profile of their list.

Geelong proved this is possible with savvy recruitment. They were the oldest premiership team in V/AFL history in 2022, and still boast a handful of players over the age of 32, but have re-energised their list with impressive players 25 and younger.

Bailey Smith leads that group; Sam De Koning, Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Henry, Max Holmes, Shannon Neale, Ollie Dempsey, Lawson Humphries, Jhye Clark, Connor O'Sullivan and Mitch Edwards have all become key cogs in their best side.

"This Collingwood situation, at some point it's going to get really difficult for them," Cornes told SEN on Monday.

"You look through their best players on the weekend and they're not young. Their highest rated players - Jordan De Grey, Jeremy Howe, Scott Pendlebury, Josh Daicos, Brayden Maynard, Dan Houston, Jack Crisp, Pat Lipinski.

"Not a whole lot of youth in that crew coming through. It's going to get mightily ugly for this group."

Tying it back to the Geelong comparison, the Cats still rely heavily on Tom Stewart and Jeremy Cameron, both 33, but they have Neale, De Koning and O'Sullivan developing into those key roles.

Their 35-plus group of Patrick Dangerfield, Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs are now more handy bonuses than must-haves.

Collingwood now heads to New South Wales to take on the dominant Swans in another test of where they truly sit this season.

They will do so without Pendlebury, as the 38-year-old is rested to allow him to break the V/AFL games record at the MCG the following week against West Coast.

Richmond champion Jack Riewoldt believes it is concerning how integral Pendlebury remains for the Pies at this stage of his career.

"There is a big worry with Pendlebury out, you think about the last two games Scott Pendlebury has been involved in, Anzac Day and (against Geelong), he's been the highest-rated Collingwood player on the game," Jack Riewoldt told Fox Footy.

"I 100 per cent believe he should come out and play in front of his own fans and potentially 100,000 fans against the West Coast Eagles.

"But it does leave big holes week to week for Craig McRae to try and fill with different players that aren't at the stature or Scott Pendlebury and don't have his IQ.

"It does throw a bit of chaos into the mix for Collingwood going forward."

Pendlebury himself has previously dismissed concerns about the club's lack of investment in the draft in recent years.

"We haven't really gone to the draft very much have we in the last few years, so, yeah, I think we're in a window where we think we can win and challenge," Pendlebury told 3AW in March.

"We won a premiership a couple of years ago, played in the prelim, so that's probably a fair assessment (that we haven't used many first round picks).

"I don't think there's great evidence that going backwards, the rebuild path gets you to where you want to go really quickly.

"I think if you have a look at the sides that have done it, they'd probably still argue they're in the rebuilding phase seven or eight years later.

"I think one of the benefits of being Collingwood in my time being here is that you always attract free agents, you always attract really good players.

"So, sometimes, the draft, you don't need because someone is going to lob in your lap who you don't really expect through their managers where they want to come and play for Collingwood because we get big timeslots, big games, you play in front of 90,000 every week."

Collingwood will also lose at least one player of note to Tasmania when they enter the competition in 2028, with the Devils linked to forward Beau McCreery.

Given Tassie's head of recruiting previously worked at Collingwood, and club great Nathan Buckley is the odds-on favourite to be the inaugural coach, there may be a greater Magpie flavour in the Apple Isle than expected.