EXCLUSIVE
Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury will be sidelined for at least the next month after further damage to his arm was revealed.
Pendlebury, 36, was subjected to a fitness test at training on Wednesday but failed to complete a tackling drill in the final stages.
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He was sent for further scans post-training which showed a partial tear of his bicep tendon muscle.
It will see Pendlebury miss Friday night against the Western Bulldogs, as well as the King’s Birthday blockbuster against Melbourne and the Round 14 clash with North Melbourne.
The Pies have the bye in Round 15, with Pendlebury eyeing a return as soon as Round 16 against Gold Coast.
Pendlebury requires six games to pass the 400-game barrier.
If he plays every match from Round 16, he would reach the milestone against Carlton at the MCG on Saturday night of Round 21.
His latest setback adds to recent injuries to key Collingwood players including Jordan De Goey (abdominal), Tom Mitchell (foot), Brody Mihocek (hamstring), Jamie Elliott (vascular), Will Hoskin-Elliott (hamstring) and Mason Cox (knee).
It also means Pendlebury would almost certainly need to play until 2026 if he was to break Brent Harvey’s all-time VFL/AFL games record of 432.
Pendlebury is currently 38 games behind the North Melbourne champion, with a maximum 13 games available this year — if the Pies played in every week of finals including a grand final.
That would leave him needing to play 23 home and away matches, plus three finals, in 2025 to surpass Harvey.
The former captain had been in good form, recently, and had been among Collingwood’s best players over the past few weeks.
But the club said he “expressed soreness” during the thrilling draw with Fremantle in Round 11, even though he was removed from the injury list mid-week.
“Scott was cleared to train on Wednesday and while he got through most of the session, it was during the last tackling drill where he tested it and felt soreness return in that bicep,” high performance boss Jarrod Wade said in a statement.
“Further assessment including an MRI revealed a partial tendon tear of the bicep muscle.
“It’s a slight setback for Scott who will rehabilitate his bicep over the coming weeks, and we expect to see him return to full fitness following our bye in Round 15.
“Scott is the ultimate professional and in positive news for him, he will be able to keep his general fitness and remain on a running program during his recovery.”