Pendlebury, 26, enjoyed another outstanding season as leader of the club’s young VFL team, providing his teammates with experience and dependability in a year in which they won only four games.
The elder brother of senior star Scott, Kris Pendlebury played 15 games and was named as one of his side’s best on six occasions. He was best afield against Bendigo in round nine after gathering 31 possessions, while he led the way in the shock win over Port Melbourne seven days prior. Tarkyn Lockyer’s Magpies knocked over the highly fancied Borough who had won 28 games in succession since the beginning of the 2011 season.
Pendlebury has now played 93 senior games at VFL level since debuting with the Bendigo Bombers back in 2005. He is one of only two players (Tom Sundberg is the other) to have played in all five seasons since Collingwood relaunched its stand-alone VFL team in 2008.
The skipper was one of 11 Collingwood players to receive a vote in last night’s JJ Liston Trophy count that saw Werribee’s Ben Ross crowned the league’s best and fairest player for 2012.
Senior quartet Marty Clarke, Jackson Paine, Jarrod Witts and Tom Young led the way for the Magpies with three votes each.
Ross, who played 14 games with North Melbourne between 2008 and 2010, clinched the Liston Trophy with 20 votes. He finished one vote clear of Casey Scorpion Tom Couch (currently on Melbourne’s rookie list and a former VFL Magpie) with Port Melbourne veteran John Baird rounding out the top three.
Northern Blues youngster Adam Marcon received the Ford VFL Coaches Player of the Year award, Dean Galea (Port Melbourne) was crowned the Frosty Miller Medallist (as the VFL’s leading goal kicker) and Dean Towers (North Ballarat) became the latest winner of the Fothergill-Round Medal as the best player under the age of 23.
Victorian Football League Team of the Year 2012
B: Michael Searl (Casey), Kris Pendlebury (Collingwood), Evan Panozza (Casey)
HB: Brett Goodes (Williamstown), Sam Pleming (Port Melbourne), Leigh Osborne (Frankston)?
C: Adam Marcon (Northern Blues), Shane Valenti (Port Melbourne), Ben Ross (Werribee)
HF: Kyle Martin (Frankston), Khan Haretuku (Port Melbourne), Sam Dwyer (Port Melbourne)
F: Matthew Little (Bendigo), Dean Galea (Port Melbourne), Chris Cain (Port Melbourne)
?Foll: Nick Meese (Northern Blues), John Baird (Port Melbourne - captain), Ben Jolley (Williamstown)
Int: Myles Sewell (North Ballarat), Troy Selwood (Geelong), Luke Tynan (Casey), Myke Cook (Sandringham), Lachlan Delahunty (Frankston), Dean Towers (North Ballarat)
Coach: Brett Lovett (Casey)
JJ Liston Trophy Voting - Collingwood
3 - M.Clarke, J.Paine, J.Witts, T.Young
2 - M.Boland, P.Seedsman, K.Ugle
1 - N.Brown, K.Pendlebury, N.Riddle, J.Thomas
