Be wary of Essendon and the mind games of coach John Worsfold.

That is the message from Scott Pendlebury as the Magpies prepare to meet the Bombers on ANZAC Day at the MCG.

The Collingwood captain admits his ears pricked up when he heard Worsfold say Essendon’s players have “hit the wall” after their 65-point loss to Adelaide in round four.

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However he won’t be taking the Bombers lightly when the teams meet in the biggest game on the home and away calendar.

“Is it a mind game or is it a tactic and something he’s trying to do to spike his players,” Pendlebury questioned.

“That’s what I thought of straight away.

“You look at the result that they had where they lost by nine or ten goals and you just think to be wary of the bounce back.

“If they are hitting the wall, you’d think it’s going to be a very light week for them to get them cherry ripe for ANZAC Day. And then it’s ANZAC Day and you know they’re going to be up.”

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Pendlebury’s comments on the Bombers came during episode four of podcast Jock & Journo, with Jay Clark of the Herald Sun.

The pair also discussed the following topics, which you can listen to in the module below:

- The Pendlebury-bench debacle (1:45),
- Collingwood’s ‘passengers’ (5:45),
- “I’ll cut off your hands” (8:50),
- The ‘goosebumps’ of ANZAC Day (12:45),
- Hawthorn’s downfall (17:30),
- Gary Ablett Jnr’s future (22:00),
- Pendles’ premiership favourites (23:30),
- Jay’s whack on Harley Bennell (25:50),
- The motivation of milestones (29:45) and more.