BAD SETBACK: Collingwood key man suffers career ending injury.
Scott Pendlebury was subbed out of Sunday’s win after a heavy collision with Hawthorn’s Josh Weddle.
Collingwood have confirmed the extent of Scott Pendlebury’s rib injury, with the club confirming a fracture following a heavy collision with Hawthorn’s Josh Weddle on Sunday.
Pendlebury – who is on track to reach 400 games later this year – was subbed out of the match before half-time, being replaced by great mate and second-ranked games holder Steele Sidebottom.
Fortunately for the Pies, they enter the first of their two byes (due to their Opening Round participation), which will give the 36-year-old 12 days to recover before they face Port Adelaide in Round 6.
The club has not given an official timeline on his return but will monitor Pendlebury’s progress over the next week.
Out-of-luck forward Nathan Kreuger suffered a setback in his calf that will see him miss another two to four weeks.
The 24-year-old was eyeing off a return to full training after overcoming a hamstring injury sustained in the pre-season.
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From love-to-hate to hot property: Why Collingwood players are so marketable
The afterglow of Collingwood’s premiership glory was barely dimming in when it dawned on Darcy Moore that he was about to be inundated with invitations and opportunities.
As the erudite skipper of a flag-winning mega-club, he knew he would be offered a torrent of invites, tickets, ambassador roles, advertising deals and opening-night red carpets.
So the forward-thinking Moore decided to jump ahead of the curve. He sat down with his manager, James Pitcher, in October and made it clear that he did not want to overcommit.
“Darcy has probably said no to a lot of stuff,” Pitcher says.
Moore was not the only Magpie in high demand following the premiership success.
PR departments were quick to grasp the pulling power of the well-mannered Daicos brothers, Josh and Nick, the mature qualities of Scott Pendlebury, as well as the unique backstory of the inimitable big Yank, American Mason Cox.
They were not only recognisable faces in footy-mad Melbourne, but they were significant online brands with widespread influence. On Instagram alone, Nick Daicos has 247,000 followers, Pendlebury has 231,000, Josh Daicos 139,000, Moore 134,000 and Cox 123,000.
For players and PR agents it was a two-way street: free tickets equalled free publicity. The pin-up boys would turn up, post and publicise events.
Considering the star power of Moore, Cox, Pendlebury, the Daicos boys and Jamie Elliott, could this be the most marketable collection of premiership Pies ever?
Collingwood captured the football public’s imagination across the past two years under the leadership and refreshing honesty of coach Craig “Fly” McCrae.
He dared his charges to play exciting football, and they always won the close ones, including the one that counts, a heart-stopping four-point victory over Brisbane in last year’s grand final.
“Everyone used to love to hate Collingwood, but everyone seemed to like them last year or the last two years under Fly,” Pitcher says.
It also helped that the players readily engaged with fans.
This warmth helped catapult the Collingwood stars into the celebrity stratosphere, none more so than Moore. He began to appear with his partner, Triple J presenter Dee Salmin, at red-carpet events, including the National Gallery of Victoria’s gala fundraiser in December, declaring it a “wicked time” to his Instagram followers, while crediting local designer Millie Savage for the necklaces he wore.
“Darcy is not your typical footballer,” Pitcher says. “He sees the world differently, presents differently with the way he articulates and communicates.
“Then he dropped that outstanding Anzac Day speech (in which he said the game was about more than four points and thanked serving personnel and their families for their sacrifices). That just took him to the next level and then obviously being a premiership captain of Collingwood has ignited that further.”
She has little trouble listing the standout qualities of Collingwood’s biggest names.
“Mason Cox is a very charming guest to have at events, a big personality and talks to his fans, very personable, very recognisable and the American factor helps his profile,” Romano says.
“The Daicos boys are super popular, as the Daicos name is legendary in the AFL world – their father Peter was one of the most renowned and admired players at Collingwood. Josh dates [model] Annalise Dalins, and it is always a great picture of the very polished emerging power couple.
“Darcy Moore is the son of legendary Collingwood player Peter Moore, so has a very high profile, he is a lovely man, a very focused individual and, again, talks to all of his fans.”
The Collingwood players were good for business when it came to promoting events. But were all these appearances good for football?
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