Collingwood has two sets of ‘brothers’ in its senior team each week.

There’s the two Daicos superstars, Nick and Josh, and then there’s champion midfielders Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom.

At least that is how Sidebottom feels about the special bond and record-breaking on-field partnership with his great mate despite the chalk-and-cheese feel about the pair early on.

There was the ultra-driven, super-professional Pendlebury, who would eat carrots for desert.

And then there was the knockabout bloke who tried his best to be a ‘Ratpacker’ and had a bit to learn early days about the professional football lifestyle.

But when Sidebottom thumped the goal of his life on grand final day two years ago, he says the leather Sherrin has never felt sweeter on his boot than that unforgettable 60m bomb which broke the hearts of the Brisbane Lions.

Just as significantly, Sidebottom said it was the emotional embrace with Pendlebury seconds afterwards that will go down as the most special moment he has ever experienced on the hallowed turf.

It was not just the joy of flushing the goal that won a second flag from so far out.

It was the love of a teammate.

Of a ‘brother’.

“It is like I have had a brother at the club this whole time. I certainly have spent more time with him than any of my four older brothers,” Sidebottom said.

“If I’m honest I just feel more comfortable when I am around him.

“That is how important he has been for me.

“And when people ask ‘What is he (Pendlebury) like in the change rooms?

“He would admit this himself, but the older ‘Dip’ (Pendlebury) has got, the more he has loosened up and enjoyed things away from footy a little bit more.

“It was great that in his early days he was so absolutely bloody driven, and determined, and you could never pull him away from that.

“I look back and I wish I was more like that when I was younger.

“But to have him so close by my side throughout my career, people would pay good money for that, so I feel very lucky that has been me.”

On Friday night against Western Bulldogs at the MCG, Pendlebury, 37, and Sidebottom, 34, will play their 308th AFL match together, breaking the all-time record set by Adelaide greats Tyson Edwards and Andrew McLeod.

The duo, who will release a commemorative Shiraz called ‘308’ to mark the achievement, say they have been great for each other.

Every morning at the club they meet for coffee and after every match they will jump in the spa with a Gatorade or a beer for a debrief.

Pendlebury is adamant Sidebottom has been one of the most selfless, versatile and damaging players in the game over the past two decades.

But it is behind the scenes in the inner sanctum that Sidebottom, a man who has often shied away from the public spotlight and adulation, takes over as the squad’s most popular figure.

“‘Sidey’ is a legend of the locker room,” Pendlebury said.

“I have no doubt he is the number one locker room guy in the history of the Collingwood Football Club.

“He is someone who just makes it fun and he is just so enjoyable to be around.

“No matter what is happening at the club if we are playing cricket or something like that he has to be right in the thick of it and if he is not batting or bowling – he is wicket keeping.

“But he is just the most selfless and coachable player I’ve seen.

“He could have played onball his whole career but instead the coach says ‘We need you to tag or play on the wing, or go to half back’, and he just says ‘Yep, whatever you need’. Every game.

“But he plays for the team and the team atmosphere. Ultimately, ‘Sidey’ is happy if we win.

“He would prefer to play poorly from a personal perspective and win the game rather than play awesome in a loss.

“As we have got older, we have seen a lot of guys coming through who want to play well first, and don’t really care enough about the result.

“They want to play well for themselves, first and foremost. Sidey is not that person.

“And we have always been optimistic that we could get through whatever challenges we faced.

“No matter what happened, we always thought we could find a way to get the club back to the top.

“That is why we are still playing now.”

They desperately want a third cup, and believe it is within reach this season after the Magpies topped up in the trade period adding Dan Houston, Harry Perryman and Tim Membrey.

They dismiss the ‘too old, too slow’ tag in the firm belief their system holds up against the best.

“We understand the situation we are in,” Pendlebury said.

“If we don’t play well our team is going to be old and slow and if we play really well we are going to be too experienced and too smart.

“That is just the outside noise of footy. We know that is going to happen.

“Internally, the thing I have really enjoyed with ‘Fly’ (Craig McRae) coming on is the system and role you play helps everyone shine.”

Sidebottom, a two-time best-and-fairest winner and 2018 All-Australian, has very little footy memorabilia in his house aside from a photograph of the pair standing on the MCG fence with the cup in front of the delirious Magpie faithful.

Sidebottom’s wife, Alisha, had one framed for Pendlebury, and his wife, Alex, with a special message inscribed on the back.

It says ‘Thirteen years. Worth the wait’.

It was the length of the rollercoaster ride between Collingwood premierships in 2010 and 2023.

And Sidebottom remembers the decisive 60m goal like it was yesterday.

“It felt so flush and so pure,” Sidebottom said.

“Even just the way I landed on my right foot. When I kick I normally land on my left foot. But not that kick. It was different.

“That’s just how much momentum I had.

“It’s amazing what your body can do when you are full of adrenaline pumping through it.

“I have never kicked the ball that big and that sweet ever before.

“We lost, and ‘Dip’ didn’t play his best game either, so it makes it a little bit easier to look back on 2018 knowing that I contributed and so did dip for us to get the thing that we are here for.”

And to the man from Congupna, the champion No. 10 is categorically the greatest player in the black and white stripes, saying “there are no arguments”.

“I’m not sure if anyone is still debating it but for me there is no ‘arguably’ about it,” Sidebottom said.

And after almost 17 years side-by-side, he still falls victim to Pendlebury’s ball fake and sidestep which has tripped up countless opponents over 405 AFL matches.

“I feel their pain, (laughing) because he still gets me with it – going for the right,” Sidebottom said.

“It feels like it happens in slo-mo, too. I’m so used to seeing it, and so close up.

“It is one of the joys of playing alongside him.

“You just know when it happens it means he has an extra couple of seconds to dish it out to me or whoever is on the outside.

“That is why I am so lucky to have played alongside him.”

That connection and predictability means they often pass the ball to each other without having to call for it, and problem-solve in-synch during the breaks.

“There was a time when ‘Swanny’ (Dane Swann) was playing too and we used to possess the ball a lot and all I knew is that if Pendles’ had the ball I was on,” Sidebottom said.

But Sidebottom says he has had a lot to learn early on, and was grateful for the guidance of Pendlebury, a six-time All-Australian, five-time best-and-fairest and 2010 Norm Smith Medal winner.

Sidebottom attempted, without much success, to join the Rat Pack led by Swann, Dale Thomas, Ben Johnson, Alan Didak and Heath Shaw early on.

“I was definitely trying,” Sidebottom laughed.

“I loved to have a beer and enjoy myself and so did those guys.

“But as much as I enjoyed the early part of my career, I would have loved to have maybe straightened up a little bit.

“I would have loved to have put a little bit more time into my footy.

“Maybe if I could just have tweaked my approach a tiny little but it would have been good.”

Pendlebury saw the struggle.

“I could definitely see early days he wasn’t sure which way to go,” Pendlebury said.

“Some people might say you should go follow those guys and train with them.

“And he was like ‘Yeah, I want to’, but that also looks pretty fun over there, too.

“So maybe he wasn’t sure for a period, but over time you figure out which way you want to go.”

Of his 16 completed AFL seasons, Sidebottom has played at least 20 games in 12 of them, showcasing his extraordinary durability and consistency.

But last year posed one of the biggest challenges of his career when he was dropped for the first time since establishing himself as a regular top-liner from his second season.

This year could be his last, but the smooth-moving veteran wants to squeeze everything out of himself.

“Last year our first game against the Giants I played OK but the next three or four I was sh**house and I probably looked slow and like I’m getting to the end,” Sidebottom said.

“And then for the next game ‘Fly’ told everyone, including me, that he was resting me.

“But I got dropped. I am sure of that.

“It was probably, yeah, the first time in my career pretty much, aside from a few early days.

“But it is a bit different now because I used to think I didn’t want to be the guy to just hang around and keep a young player out of the team.

“But my mindset has shifted a little bit actually.

“Now I think that if I feel I am still good enough, someone else has got to be better than me to take my spot, not just for the sake of it.

“Last year I did some tagging late in the season and it helped narrow my focus.

“I know I am closer to the end than I am the start, so yes it is going to come one day.

“But I am not just going to give up my spot.

“Someone else is going to have to come in and take it off me.”

SIDEBOTTOM: PENDLES SHOULD GO FOR BOOMER’S RECORD

Sidebottom says the Magpies should back champion teammate Scott Pendlebury to play on and break Brent Harvey’s all-times AFL games record next season.

Pendlebury currently sits fourth on 405 matches and needs to play 28 more to surpass the North Melbourne legend’s 432-game mark in 2026.

It comes amid criticism of the club’s list build which saw the oldest squad in the competition trade its 2025 first-round pick for gun half back Dan Houston who starred in the 91-point demolition job on Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

Pendlebury, 37, was made the starting substitute amid back-to-back six-day breaks, but has not ruled out playing on for a 21st AFL season next year.

Sidebottom said the brilliant midfielder’s football intellect was unrivalled on the playing field and was adamant the club should throw its full support behind his record run next year if they remained in premiership contention.

“I have got absolutely no doubt he should definitely give it a crack, and I am certain, if he wants to do it, the club will give him that opportunity,” Sidebottom told the Herald Sun.

“And I think ‘Pendles’ will (want to play on) as well.

“He is so close to it now (breaking the record) that it is almost like ‘why not?’ He’s body is never going to let him down.

“And now that we are in a good spot, I think he still wants to be a part of it as much as anyone.”

Pendlebury and Sidebottom will on Friday night break the all-time record for most games played as teammates, running out for their 308th game together against Western Bulldogs at the MCG.

Sidebottom said Pendlebury was still one of the Magpies’ most important players and an on-field senior coach.

“I know for a fact when Pendles is out there whether he personally gets a lot of the ball or not, we are a better footy team,” he said.

“There are other things to come into it because if we play well and have a good season this year we are more likely to keep more of the older guys around.

“But to be brutally honest, I would look to Pendles more than I would look to the coaches

“He’s going to make a good coach and he’s basically been doing it for the past four or five years anyway, he’s just been playing at the same time.”

Collingwood’s veterans will likely delay a decision on their contracts until the second half of the season, pending the team’s performance after missing finals last year.

They have 10 players aged 30 or older in 2025.

Sidebottom said Collingwood would not have won the 2023 premiership without Pendlebury’s organisation and leadership in the crucial last quarter against the Lions.

“The centre bounce stuff when he said to Nick (Daicos), ‘Do you want to be in here or not?’ it just shows not much overawes him,” Sidebottom said.

“He has got such a cool head.

“I’m telling you when you are out there and sh** is going on, and there are five minutes to go, there are not a lot of people who can think straight and know what do we actually need here.

“We are lucky to have him and you have seen him in important games when we really need players to stand up, he’s the one.”