COLLINGWOOD coach Craig McRae has hailed Scott Pendlebury a "legend of the game", but has declared his brilliant veteran is unlikely to play next week following his extraordinary Anzac Day heroics.

Pendlebury claimed a record fourth Anzac Medal at the age of 38 on Saturday, inspiring his side's 77-point win over Essendon with a stellar performance that featured 43 disposals, two goals, 10 marks and a herculean 19 score involvements.

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However, given the five-day turnaround before Thursday night's clash with Hawthorn, McRae revealed Pendlebury is "unlikely" to back up next week in a decision that is set to give Collingwood an intriguing decision over his record-breaking match.

Pendlebury is two games away from setting the all-time V/AFL games record with a 433rd appearance, but resting against Hawthorn would set him up to rewrite the history books at the SCG against Sydney and not in Melbourne.

Another week off in between would then leave Pendlebury with round 11's game against West Coast at the MCG, a twilight clash on a Saturday evening, as the potential landmark fixture.

"I won't make [a call] now, but I'd probably think he's unlikely next week," McRae said.

"We've got a five-day turnaround. We'll make decisions early in the week, we'll see how he pulls up. But we probably had a conversation about being a maybe or a maybe not. He had a lot of time on ground, which is great for today but maybe not for next week. But, again, we'll assess that early in the week."

Pendlebury, who joined McRae in speaking after the match, said he'd prefer to break Brent Harvey's record in front of Collingwood's home fans at the MCG which could lead to the 38-year-old being managed twice in three weeks.

"I'll obviously equal it the next game that I play," Pendlebury said.

"As 'Fly' said, I'll see how I pull up. It's a quick turnaround. If I can recover well and pull up well, we'll have that conversation. But we've got the bigger picture in mind and we'll stick to that. I'd love to break it here in front of the Magpie army, that would be really cool. We'll just see where it lands."

Pendlebury was a unanimous Anzac Medal winner, polling 15 of a possible 15 votes, with the gong in 2026 marking the fourth time he's won the prestigious award after also being named Anzac Day's Man of the Match in 2010, 2011 and 2019.

McRae, who has led Pendlebury as Collingwood's coach for the last five seasons, said that Saturday's record-breaking 43-disposal performance was the best he'd seen of the ageless midfielder.

"I think so. He's played many good ones. I know stats-wise it's up there," McRae said.

"I'm saying to the players on the bench – and I openly say this out loud because I share it inside our four walls – but I don't want to be older and greyer and not appreciate this man here. What we witnessed today, he's a legend of our game and a legend of our footy club.

"To be able to do that now at 38, we have no barriers on age and no ceilings on performance. He's remarkable. Every time I watch him perform, I'm in awe. We're all just so happy for him, kicking that goal late. It's great to be part of this."

Essendon coach Brad Scott said he was bitterly disappointed with his side's inability to cope with the occasion of Anzac Day, with Collingwood kicking 15 goals to six in the second half to run away with the victory.

"We were in it until half time, but we weren't playing well either," Scott said.

"It was a real sense that the game was going to break open in the second half, one way or the other. We just didn't handle the occasion well at all, even though the pressure and everything was OK early.

"It's incredibly frustrating because we came on a really important day and a big occasion and an opportunity to play in games like that where outside of finals you don't get bigger games or bigger crowds or bigger stages, which creates bigger moments. Repeatedly, we weren't able to handle those moments.

"We weren't able to handle the occasion, we weren't able to handle Collingwood's pressure, then even worse we weren't able to stand up under perceived pressure that wasn't even there."

Essendon young gun Archer May couldn't finish the game due to "medial ligament soreness" in his knee, with Scott refusing to be drawn on whether the side's fadeout in front of a 92,000-strong crowd was due to the inexperience of his group.

"It's a hard one for me in a press conference," Scott said.

"Do I feel like saying what I really think, or what I think the party line should be?

"There are facts that are really obvious. Scott Pendlebury alone has played more games than three quarters of our team combined. But I was looking forward to the occasion to see our inexperienced players under pressure.

"It's not to put it at the feet of the inexperienced players, because the inability to absorb the pressure and stand up and show some composure was right across the board. It wasn't just the young players."