SCOTT Pendlebury's stature in the game continues to grow as he edges past 'The Little Master' and draws level with legendary duo 'Lethal' and 'Big Nick'.

When the Collingwood captain finished runner-up in the Magpies' best and fairest on Friday night, it marked another significant achievement in an illustrious career.

It was the 11th time Pendlebury had finished in the top three in the club award, taking him past Geelong genius Gary Ablett (10) as the outright leader among the current crop of players.

The Pies champion has leapt up the all-time list to equal-fourth, alongside official Legends in Hawthorn superstar Leigh Matthews and Carlton colossus John Nicholls.

Pendlebury sits behind only Footscray and North Melbourne ruck star Gary Dempsey (15), Fitzroy legend Kevin Murray (14) and Swans icon Bob Skilton (13).

The brilliant left-footer could continue to climb this ladder of consistency. He'll be 32 in January, but his body is holding up well and he appears to have at least another two years left in him.

Remarkably, Pendlebury has racked up his 11 top-three placings in the space of just 13 seasons.

He was denied another seemingly inevitable top-three finish in 2017 when he led the Pies' count until a finger injury sidelined him for the last six rounds.

Pendlebury remains just one short of his coach Nathan Buckley's club record of six best and fairests.

This season he passed former teammate Dane Swan to become Collingwood's greatest vote-winner in the Brownlow Medal with 194, ninth in history.

TRADE HUB All the latest news

The 301-gamer is just 12 games shy of Tony Shaw's club games record, which he is set to eclipse midway through next season.

Ablett, 35, finished seventh in the Cats' count on Thursday night, but aims to finish his career on a high after announcing he will play on for one more season.

Crow-turned-Cat Patrick Dangerfield is now outright third on the current list after posting his eighth consecutive top-three finish when he claimed his fourth club champion award.

Most top-three best and fairest placings - current players Player 1st-2nd-3rd 11 Scott Pendlebury (Coll 2006-) 5-4-2 10 Gary Ablett (Geel/GC/Geel 2002-) 6-2-2 8 Patrick Dangerfield (Adel/Geel 2008-) 4-2-2 7 Josh Kennedy (Haw/Syd 2007-) Dustin Martin (Rich 2010-) Marc Murphy (Carl 2006-) 3-2-2 2-2-3 2-4-1

Most top-three best and fairest placings - all time 15 Gary Dempsey (Foots/NM) 14 Kevin Murray (Fitz) 13 Bob Skilton (SM) 11 Leigh Matthews (Haw), John Nicholls (Carl), Scott Pendlebury (Coll) 10 Gary Ablett jnr (Geel/GC/Geel), Craig Bradley (Carl), Kane Cornes (PA), Robert Harvey (StK), Chris Judd (WC/Carl), John Murphy (Fitz/SM/NM), Matthew Pavlich (Frem), Scott West (WB), Garry Wilson (Fitz) 9 Ron Barassi (Melb/Carl), Peter Bell (Frem/NM/Frem), Simon Black (Bris), Nathan Buckley (Bris/Coll), Bill Hutchison (Ess), Sam Mitchell (Haw/WC), Michael Tuck (Haw), Nick Riewoldt (StK) 8 Gary Ablett snr (Haw/Geel), Allen Aylett (NM), Kevin Bartlett (Rich), Nathan Burke (StK), Wayne Carey (NM/Adel), Wayne Campbell (Rich), David Clarke senior (Geel/Carl), Jack Clarke (Ess), Shane Crawford (Haw), Patrick Dangerfield (Adel/Geel), Laurie Dwyer (NM), Bernie Quinlan (Foots/Fitz), Dick Reynolds (Ess), Ian Stewart (StK/Rich), Len Thompson (Coll), Ted Whitten (Foots)