Collingwood great Scott Pendlebury will play on, while teammate Darcy Cameron has rejected rival offers to sign a three-year contract extension.
The 37-year-old Pendlebury is set to break the VFL/AFL record for most games played next year, his 21st season.
Pendlebury has played 421 AFL games, just 11 shy of the record of North Melbourne’s retired legend Brent Harvey.
“Everyone throughout the league appreciates the influence and experience that Scott brings to our side,” Collingwood’s list manager Justin Leppitsch said in a statement on Monday.
“His professionalism is second to none, always ensuring he sets himself up to get the best out of himself and his teammates.
“In addition to his on-field contribution, it is the guidance he will provide his fellow teammates, setting the standards and embodying what it means to be a Collingwood person, that will be influential throughout our 2026 campaign and beyond.”
Ruckman Cameron was contracted until the end of next season, but has signed a three-year extension until the end of 2029 amid interest from rival clubs.
The 30-year-old described his fresh deal with Collingwood as “an easy decision”.
“This club means a lot to me and now feels like the right time to commit again,” Cameron said in a statement.
“We have such a special group here, from the players to the coaches and all staff, and I can’t wait to see what we achieve over the coming years.”
The Magpies, fielding one of the oldest teams in AFL history, now turn their attention to the futures of veteran forwards Jamie Elliott and Brodie Mihocek.
The 32-year-olds, who both remain consistently brilliant on-field performers, are still without deals for next season.
Elliott, who turns 33 in 10 days’ time, is understood to be considering a two-year offer from the Pies, though Gold Coast have pitched interest given the 215-gamer has family in Queensland.
And Tasmanian-born Mihocek is believed to have rejected a one-year offer from the Pies as he seeks a longer deal.
Clubs including Melbourne and Sydney have been linked to the 155-gamer.
Collingwood’s 35-year-old defender Jeremy Howe and 34-year-old winger Steele Sidebottom also fall off-contract at season’s end. Both are tipped to sign new one-year deals.
The Magpies had held top spot on the ladder for most of this season but have lost four of their past five matches to slip to third ahead of a trip to Adelaide to play the ladder-leading Crows on Saturday night.
Another Dees coaching contender rules himself out
The list of coaching contenders to take over from Simon Goodwin at the Melbourne Demons is becoming narrower by the day, with Adam Simpson the latest to pull himself out of the race.
The West Coast premiership coach joined former Swans mentor John Longmire in publicly withdrawing, leaving just Nathan Buckley and potentially Ken Hinkley as the only two left with AFL coaching experience, along with outsider James Hird, whose name has also been floated.
Simpson was asked directly on SEN WA’s Breakfast with Simmo & Goss on Monday morning whether he was keen to be included in the Demons recruitment process.
“I don’t want to coach next year,” Simpson said.
“I think I’ll give it a spell. I was thinking through it over the weekend and I know ‘Horse’ (Longmire) has done the same thing.
“It just doesn’t feel like it’s the right time to be available.
“They haven’t called me. And sometimes you wait for these things because you might think, ‘I’m not interested’, but then you get the phone call and you go, ‘Oh hang on, I’m wanted’, and then you sort of pivot in a different way.
“I’ve had a good think about it and I’m just not in the right headspace with it. I’m enjoying all this.
“It’s the same things that Horse (said) really. He’s a bit different, it’s only been eight months for him, it’s been a bit longer for me.
“The passion to go through all the process, because once you get approached it’s turbo and you need to really be prepared. I’m not really prepared and not in the right headspace.
“I’ll continue to do this if this is part of my brief next year. I feel like that’s the path I’m taking at the moment.”
Goodwin was sacked by the Demons board last week after 11 seasons at the club, and nine as head coach of the senior side. Melbourne have missed finals for the second straight year, with just seven wins from 21 games in 2025.
Buckley has said that he is keen to meet with the Demons, who are yet to form a selection panel.
Other less experienced names that have been floated include ex-Demon Jordan Lewis, Lions football boss Danny Daly and senior assistants like Hayden Skipworth and Daniel Giansiracusa.
Canberra shows strong interest in AFL’s 20th licence
With an unsettled political situation in Tasmania and doubts over the stadium, the AFL’s 19th licence is still not set in stone, but it hasn’t stopped talk of who will be the competition’s 20th team.
If all goes well, the plan is for Tasmania to join the competition in 2028, but there have been no formal conversations from the AFL beyond that about granting an extra licence or when that might be.
However, it seems like an obvious move by the league to eventually even out the number of teams and create an extra match for the broadcast schedule.
The Northern Territory and a third Western Australian team have been floated as potential options, but Nine News is reporting that now Canberra has shown strong interest in joining the competition in the future, after its long-running partnership with the GWS Giants.
“If the AFL decides to expand to 20 teams, Canberra’s proven support for the game, including growing membership, sell-out crowds and infrastructure commitments, will speak for itself,” ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said in a statement to Channel 9.
“We believe Canberra and the surrounding region would be a competitive option when that conversation occurs.”
The Giants’ partnership with the ACT spans back to 2012, when the club helped redevelop Manuka Oval, where it plays at least three games a season.
In 2022, GWS and the territory government signed a 10-year deal extending the partnership to 2032.
– with AAP
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