AFL/VFL Debate Reignited by Scott Pendlebury's Games Record

Sore points in sport aren't always soothed by the passage of time.

Instead, some are inflamed by the very parochialism upon which sporting allegiance thrives.

For many non-Victorian fans of Australian Rules football, one such wound is to be found in the form of "AFL/VFL", an expression which litters the records of the game's highest league.

Detractors are triggered by the term, and some may even see it as evidence of a conspiracy to omit reference to non-Victorian achievement.

For others, however, it is a mere reflection of a simple historical reality: when the AFL was founded in 1990, the expansion of the VFL was the basis for its existence.

The debate is always simmering somewhere — on talkback radio, in internet chats, or over front bars across the country — but it has been renewed in recent days by developments in Melbourne.

When Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury steps onto the MCG to take on West Coast later today, his name will stand alone at the top of a remarkable list.

His 433 matches will put him ahead of North Melbourne's Brent Harvey as the AFL/VFL games record holder.

"I don't think there's anyone in football who would deny Scott Pendlebury's place in history," commentary legend Bruce McAvaney reflected this week.

While the importance of Pendlebury's milestone is incontestable, it has had the effect of stoking the old argument about the value of non-Victorian records and their place in the game's annals.

"Where is Craig Bradley in all of this? It's an insult to Aussie Rules football," an indignant fan remarked this week, in a social media comment that reflects a widely held sentiment.

Bradley played in excess of 460 senior games of Australian rules football — 375 of them for Carlton, and more than 80 for Port Adelaide in the SANFL in his home state of South Australia, in the days before the AFL began.

"It's always contentious, and it's something you wrestle with," McAvaney said of the argument that non-VFL games should be added to AFL tallies.

Bradley isn't alone on the list of South Australian footballers who can count longevity among their career accomplishments.

Glenelg's Peter Carey, for example, played 448 league games over the course of an SANFL career that included All Australian selection and premierships in 1973, 1985 and 1986 — the last two when Carey was captain.

In Western Australia, the names of the players are different, but the debate is the same.

Australian Football Hall of Fame member Mel Whinnen, for example, appeared in about 370 senior matches, but all of them were with West Perth.

Of Brian Peake's more than 360 senior games, only the 66 with Geelong are considered as "AFL/VFL" matches because the rest were in the west, where he won the 1977 Sandover Medal.

Adelaide sports journalist and keen SANFL observer Andrew Capel believes that non-Victorian players should be forgiven for frustration.

"Some wouldn't care, but others do feel aggrieved because they've been great long-term servants of the game," he said.

But Capel himself is not of the view that SANFL and WAFL records should be included as official AFL records.

"I respect both sides of the argument, but I would leave it the way it is,"

"The fact is that [the AFL] is an expanded VFL competition, which is why it's called 'VFL slash AFL'."

McAvaney shares that outlook, as well as those mixed feelings.

"There are still 10 Victorian teams in the 18-team competition. We sort of joined their competition — they didn't join ours,"

McAvaney also made the point that it was not true to say that greats from outside Victoria go unacknowledged.

"The AFL record book, the annual book … certainly lists the achievements of people like Craig Bradley,"

"If you look at the AFL season guide, on page 640 [under] 'most national games at senior level', Craig Bradley's number one and Peter Carey's number two and Greg Phillips is number three and Russell Ebert's number four and Brent Harvey is number five."

To an extent, the argument about Pendlebury's place on all-time lists is a red herring.

His football for Collingwood has been played entirely in the AFL era. The VFL doesn't come into it.

"He actually does have the record for AFL footy — and that's what, really, this is all about," McAvaney said.

The dispute will remain ongoing, at least for the foreseeable future.

But as more time passes, what was once a sore point may finally lose some of its sting.

"Debate in footy, and sport, is always a good thing. Some of it makes me smile,"

"[But] some of it — I think, 'Well, we better get on with it guys because I reckon we've had that conversation for a long time'."