COLLINGWOOD star Scott Pendlebury said a win for his team was more important than individual accolades after once again demonstrating his big-game credentials by collecting the Anzac Medal against Essendon on Monday.

Pendlebury was the hero of the Magpies' 30-point Anzac Day victory, polling a combined eight votes from three judges to take out the best on ground award ahead of Bombers first-year sensation Dyson Heppell (five votes).

The Magpies midfielder gathered 34 disposals, laid nine tackles and kicked three goals in a commanding display.

He was particularly influential in the first quarter, picking up 12 touches and kicking the first of two spectacular snap goals as Collingwood built a 23-point lead at the first break.

"It's always good to play well in big games, but this is a team sport so I'm happy that we won and all the boys showed a lot of courage today when we were challenged," the 23-year-old said post-match.

Echoing coach Mick Malthouse's comments, Pendlebury said he was especially happy his teammates had overcome a blistering four-goals-to-one third quarter burst that put the Bombers within a point.

"That third quarter was red-hot and I think the pressure got to both sides at certain stages," Pendlebury said.

"But after an early onslaught I thought we fought back and grinded out a few goals to get the margin back out to about 15 points."

Having also won the Anzac Medal and a Norm Smith Medal in 2010, Pendlebury has cemented his reputation as a big-occasion performer, but the midfielder said he takes more pride in delivering when the adrenaline rush of a feature match isn't pushing him on.

"Big games are always so easy to get up for," Pendlebury said.

"Everyone's excited, the adrenaline's high.

"It's probably when you're playing on a Sunday and not many people turn up … I'm really fortunate in that I play for Collingwood so I get 60,000 every week, but I pride myself on when we travel to really stand up then."

Malthouse said Pendlebury's professional approach sets a perfect example for young players.

"If I need to show any young recruit how to go about preparing for a game of football, or preparing for his year, or preparing for his career, there's no further to go than Scott Pendlebury," Malthouse said.

"He's an absolute professional in everything he does to prepare for a long season, or his career, or that weekend.

"So it's not just a matter of, 'Oh, I'll get ready to play against Essendon on Anzac Day.'

"He's ready to play against anyone, at any level, for a long time. So no accidents happen for Scott Pendlebury."