Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury ruled out of Bulldogs clash leaving Magpies undermanned

Adding a former captain to their injury list leaves Collingwood short on manpower for a massive Friday night clash.

Scott Pendlebury hurt his arm against Fremantle (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Collingwood coach Craig McRae conceded his premiership winning outfit is now “swimming hard” against the tide after superstar former captain Scott Pendlebury joined a massive injury list and was ruled out of Friday night’s clash with Western Bulldogs.

Pendlebury suffered an arm injury in what proved an injury-filled trip to Perth last Friday and after early hope he would be fit to play, the 36-year-old failed a fitness test and the coach said the club would have to “explore” ways to fill the growing number of injury gaps.

Ruckman Mason Cox injure his knee in the draw against the Dockers and will be out for six weeks, forward Brody Mihocek has a hamstring issue and powerhouse Jordan De Goey, who didn’t get up for the clash, could miss up to three matches with an adductor tear.

There are 15 names on the official Collingwood injury list which also includes veteran defender Jeremy Howe who McRae said should return from a groin injury on Friday night.

“We are swimming against the tide at the moment, but it’s permanent and we are swimming hard,” McRae said on Wednesday.

no scott pendlebury, no jordan de goey, no brody mihocek, no jamie elliott, no tom mitchell, no reef mcinnes*, no will hoskin-elliott, no mason cox & no joe richards. pic.twitter.com/mBmxUVzciN

— josh daicos supremacy🏆 (@grundyisbae) May 29, 2024

“This (injury run) is a part of everyone’s journey, our story is this one and last year it wasn’t. I am super excited. I am really excited to see more opportunities for some and then there will be a period when they (the injured players) will come back.

“This is not permanent, this is not forever. There is a period we need to get through … but there will be a lot of guys coming back that haven’t been beaten up for 20 rounds and this competition is a really hard game. We will get some guys back fit and well.”

Howe could be used as a forward with Jamie Elliott also still sidelined with Billy Frampton also training up forward but McRae said he was still working through the best set-up to tackle the Bulldogs who will also be without key forward Aaron Naughton and midfield revelation Ed Richards.

“A couple of outs for them helps us, but we have a couple out too,” he said.

“They are a really good clearance team, really around the ball and contest. We are going to have to be on our best behaviour to get the job done.”

Collingwood are seventh on the AFL ladder despite having two draws, against the Dockers last week and Essendon on Anzac Day and have clashes against Melbourne on King’s Birthday then North Melbourne to come before the club’s second bye.

Originally published as Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury ruled out of Bulldogs clash leaving Magpies undermanned