Scott Pendlebury and wife, Alex, at last year’s Brownlow Medal count. Picture: Tim Carrafa
COLLINGWOOD captain Scott Pendlebury says he will leave Saturday’s match mid-game if his wife Alex went into labour with their first child.
Alex is due to give birth to a baby boy this weekend, as the Magpies attempt to upset premiership fancy Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium.
An excited Pendlebury, 29, said he is preparing to board the flight on Friday and tackle the Giants to help keep the Magpies in touch with the eight.
But the five-time best and fairest winner says he will put family before footy and return home to Melbourne immediately to ensure he can attend the birth.
“I want to play, but if Alex rang me and she said ‘we are on here’ and I’m in Sydney – I would fly back,” Pendlebury said on the Jock and Journo podcast.
“So if I have to miss the game, I will miss the game.
“Ideally, it works out that I get to play and Alex gives birth either later this week or early next week.”
Pendlebury said he wants to be informed immediately in the event his wife went into labour throughout the warm-up or in-game.
The star ball-winner said he would leave the ground, make the 30-minute trip by car to Spotless Stadium, and catch the first flight home, taking about three hours in total.
“Once you get to the ground you have to hand your phones in (to staff), but Alex has got ‘Wags’ (football operations manager Marcus Wagner) number at the footy club, and (for example) if it is half-time (when the labour begins), I’ll have to (leave),” he said.
“Can I do that, leave at half-time? I would like to leave at half-time, but that would be the worst-case scenario because it would really leave the boys in the lurch.
Jock and Journo pod.
How @sp_10 will put family over footy & the curry issue.
🎧 https://t.co/NKpoMxGYnI
ITunes https://t.co/Fo8cKhnpQr— Jay Clark (@ClarkyHeraldSun) May 10, 2017
“The other awkward thing about that is I would actually be on the flight home and not be able to follow the game.”
Sportspeople have regularly put the birth of their children ahead of their on-field commitments, with Sydney ruckman Darren Jolly saying he would miss the 2006 Grand Final if it coincided with the arrival of his first child.
Collingwood will play its fourth game in 19 days against the Giants on Saturday as part of a taxing schedule including the Round 5 Anzac Day blockbuster.
Pendlebury agreed with coach Nathan Buckley’s assessment that fatigue was a factor in the loss to Carlton on Saturday, but said it was no excuse for their worst performance of the year.
“We haven’t done much (training) and I could definitely sense out there that there wasn’t much run,” Pendlebury said.
“We looked really one-paced and couldn’t change gears or anything like that, there were a few times we tried to find a bit and in the last quarter we tried to rally.
“But there wasn’t much petrol left in the tank, I suppose.
“The next day after the game, the guys come in here (to the club) and just looked like zombies. I was pretty cooked by Sunday when I woke up.”
Originally published as I will leave mid-game: Pendlebury
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