Devastating Jamie Elliott injury, heated melee cap Magpies win in Scott Pendlebury's record-breaking game
Collingwood saw off a mighty scare to beat West Coast by 10 points in Scott Pendlebury's record-breaking match – but the win looks to have come at a massive cost.
While the Magpies overcame the Eagles 13.14 (92) to 12.10 (82) in Pendlebury's milestone game at the MCG on Saturday evening, captain Darcy Moore succumbed to a hamstring injury and gun small forward Jamie Elliott suffered a potentially serious knee injury.
The double injury blow dampened the feeling at the MCG as Pendlebury turned out for his 433rd game to surpass North Melbourne legend Brent Harvey and become the outright most capped player in VFL/AFL history.
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With four minutes remaining in the match and Collingwood leading by 15 points, Pendlebury won the ball in the centre circle and linked up with Jordan De Goey.
De Goey threaded a kick for Elliott on the lead in the left-forward pocket and the livewire leapt to take an overheard mark.
Scott Pendlebury greets the MCG crowd as he walks off after his record-breaking game. Getty
He then fell awkwardly upon landing.
His left knee crumpled and he immediately began clutching at it. He was carted off the field in a medicab.
As Elliott lay on the ground in agony, some spicy words were exchanged between Collingwood and West Coast players and a heated melee broke out.
At the centre of the scuffle were Magpies superstar Nick Daicos and Eagles forward Reuben Ginbey, who pushed, shoved and traded barbs.
In a brief and bizarre period of the second quarter, Moore suffered a hamstring injury when he found himself playing as a ruckman.
At various points in Pendlebury's record-breaking game, the 38-year-old champion went toe-to-toe with 21-year-old phenom Harley Reid.
Pendlebury brushed away any talk of animosity when quizzed by Fox Footy's Mark Howard in a post-match interview on the field.
"I wasn't really going head-to-head – he put me on my arse straight away!" Pendlebury said in an interview that was audible for the 90,028-strong crowd.
"So I had to get him back over on the boundary.
"But he's a great young player.
"We knew these guys were gonna be a tough out, and we respect their pressure and how they've gone about it.
"Really proud of our boys, though; we had to dig in and fight.
"And this crowd, though, was just something else, so thanks so much everybody for coming out."
Collingwood and the AFL sprung a surprise after the warm-up, telling the Magpies players that all of them – not just Pendlebury – would be wearing a guernsey with a gold number.
The two-time premiership winner then kissed his wife Alex and ran through the banner with his two kids, Jax and Darcy.
The match came to a standstill at the 10-minute mark of the first quarter, with the Collingwood faithful holding "SP433" banners above their heads and applauding the Magpies icon, who famously wears the No.10.
But West Coast refused to go away all game. Elliott Yeo kicked a goal with 10 minutes to go, then Jobe Shanahan nailed a set shot with seven minutes remaining to close the deficit to just three points.
The Pies responded with consecutive goals via Daniel McStay and Nick Daicos to ensure Pendlebury's special occasion came with the result it deserved.
