Scott Pendlebury is already back training

SCOTT Pendlebury’s relentless pursuit of excellence will see him look to strengthen his tackling, marking and work inside forward 50m next year.

SCOTT Pendlebury's relentless pursuit of excellence will see him look to strengthen his tackling, marking and general work inside forward 50m next season.

While many footballers are kicking back and relaxing in the off-season, Collingwood’s captain-in-waiting was back on the training track.

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And while he doesn’t officially start preseason training until November 18, Pendlebury has already declared: “My campaign for 2014 has already started.”

“I’ve seen a lot of the guys floating through the gym and training already.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to come into the club and try to make ourselves better people and players.”

Pendlebury said the drive to help Collingwood become a premiership contender again was a much stronger force than any individual awards he has won.

“I want a premiership; I don’t just want one,” he said. “I want to be a multiple premiership player.”

The 25-year-old dual Copeland Trophy winner said he wanted to focus on a number of areas in the off-season to aim to become better in 2014 and beyond.

“I think I can do a lot better when I go forward and take marks, and tackling is still a weakness for me,” he said. “I am still trying to get a grip on that.

“Look, the beauty of footy is that every week footy throws up a challenge; you never play the perfect game.

“Every exit interview is individual and you are always talking about ways to improve.

“You heard (Nathan Buckley) with Steele (Sidebottom), saying he needs to get bigger and stronger. Every guys has their set program (to get better).”

Pendlebury is likely to assume the Collingwood captaincy next season, but said all he cared about at the moment was learning from those around him, particularly current skipper Nick Maxwell, who has had the role since 2009.

“Many has been fantastic for me, and I am happy to keep learning from him,” he said.

“He is here again next year and I will continue to learn and see what happens.

“If I happen to be captain next year, or if I don’t, I just want to keep learning and be the best I can be for this football club.”

Pendlebury continued to provide the right example to his younger teammates, according to Buckley.

“You could put him on a pedestal and say to our young players, ‘this is the way to go about it’,” Buckley said.

“Pendles is showing the way in that regard. He deserves everything that comes to him because of that hard work and sacrifice.”

Buckley is currently in England with chief executive Gary Pert and director of football Rodney Eade, attending a coaches conference as well as meeting with Manchester United to share information on high performance program.

“They (Manchester United) don’t give a lot of access to people, we’ve had them out to us recently where they went through the commercial side of things,” Pert said.