Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury believes tagging is not only alive, but also the hardest position to successfully perform in football.

The often discussed and commonly criticised run-with role was a talking point of the Magpies’ 29-point victory over the Cats on Sunday after Levi Greenwood kept Geelong captain Joel Selwood to just 17 disposals.

Selwood offered nothing but admiration for Greenwood while reflecting on the match-up on Collingwood Media podcast ‘Jock and Journo’.

“Levi had got me again and did a really good number on me,” Selwood said on Tuesday.

“When you come up against a good opponent like that, it’s hard to get off the leash sometimes.

“…He’s quick, he’s strong, and he’s really disciplined in the way he goes about things.”

Selwood was visibly frustrated throughout an enthralling contest with Greenwood at the MCG. A week prior, the five-time All-Australian had 43 touches and kicked a goal in the Cats’ round five win over St Kilda.

One of the game’s most admired onballers, his disposal tally has only dipped below 20 on three occasions in his past 31 games. All three times have been against Collingwood, with Greenwood keeping him to 19 (round 22, 2015), 18 (round 9, 2016) and 17 (round 6, 2017) touches each time the teams have clashed in the past three seasons.

iTUNES: Tune in as Joel Selwood joins Scott Pendlebury and Jay Clark on 'Jock and Journo'.

“The last few times I’ve played on him there’s been a lot of physicality,” Greenwood reflected post-match.

“I just tried to get into him early and get him off his game as much as I could,” the South Australian told Collingwood Media.

“There was a fair bit of conversation, probably more than there has in the past few times we’ve played on each other.

“I just took it quarter-by-quarter and just tried to nullify his impact.”

While Selwood will aim to redeem himself against the Gold Coast Suns in round seven, attention for Greenwood and the Magpies turns to an MCG match-up against Carlton.

The Blues have their own dangerous midfielders in Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps, yet captain Pendlebury is unsure if a tagging role will once again be deployed.

“I think there is a role for it, but you also take into account history,” Pendlebury said on ‘Jock and Journo’.

“It does go a little bit deeper than that head-to-head match-up because you want to make sure you win the game of football as well.”



Pendlebury has been the focus of taggers numerous times throughout his 242-game career and believes it’s a football craft more difficult to master than most.

“I think tagging would have to be the hardest role in the game,” he said.

“Every player is programmed to go after the pill, and to re-write the program in your mind to chase and lock down and be that defensively minded, mentally that would take a fair bit out of you.”

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Selwood joined Pendlebury and co-host Jay Clark on ‘Jock and Journo’ to clear the air on a heated exchange with the Collingwood skipper on the final siren on Sunday.

You can listen to the pair discuss the “awkward” run-in by clicking on the module below.

Other topics include:

- Make or break at the ‘G? (1:45),
- Ben Reid’s best position (3:15),
- Trusting Jordan De Goey (4:20),
- Joel Selwood joins Jock & Journo (5:15),
- Selwood on Levi Greenwood’s treatment (12:20),
- Tagging: Dead or alive? (16:30),
- Pendlebury-Bontempelli comparisons (18:00),
- Booing Gary Ablett Jnr (24:00),
- Trent Cotchin’s crisis point (26:00),
- Pendles meets Manny (27:30),
- Sharing GPS numbers (32:20),
- Nathan Buckley’s ‘awkward’ coffee order (34:30) and more.