Evergreen Collingwood great Scott Pendlebury has etched himself into Anzac Day folklore, winning a record fourth medal in arguably his finest performance ever as the Magpies blew Essendon in a 77-point smashing.

In his 431st match — one short of the equal all-time AFL record — Pendlebury outpointed his younger teammate Nick Daicos for the prestigious award, as the Magpies proved too good for a battling Essendon with a 20.17 (137) to 9.6 (60) victory at the MCG on Saturday.

Heading into the game Pendlebury — who had won the Anzac Medal in 2010, 2011, 2019 — was tied with former Bombers captain James Hird for the most with three.

The 38-year-old showed his experience in front of the 92,231 fans who flocked to the game, racking up a remarkable career-best 43 touches to go with 19 score involvements and two goals.

Such was his dominance that the crowd was chanting “Pendles” in the dying moments.

Daicos could’ve claimed his second Anzac Medal had he kicked straight, finishing with four behinds to go with 42 disposals, 14 score involvements and eight clearances in another clinical display.

The under-siege Bombers were steady in the first half, trailing by only 14 points at half-time despite going in as heavy underdogs.

Collingwood blew the game open in a frenetic third term, kicking six goals to two in a dominant display that could’ve been worse for Essendon had their opposition kicked straight.

Come the final term it became the stuff of nightmare for Brad Scott’s team, as they conceded 15 goals to six in the second half.

Making the Bombers’ day worse was a potential serious knee injury to forward Archer May, who left the field early in the final term after he fell to the turf in pain.

Half-back Archie Roberts continued to rack up the footy for Essendon with 42 disposals, but the Bombers were smashed in the contest and their skills were woeful at times, inviting Collingwood’s pressure.

Collingwood got the perfect start when Roan Steele kicked the first within 90 seconds of the first bounce, before Lachie Schultz doubled their early advantage.

Archer Day-Wicks kept Essendon in the contest with two first-quarter goals in a frenetic term which wasn’t ideal for the fancied Magpies.

This led to Collingwood shutting the game down in the second term, with both teams trading only the one goal despite the perfect conditions.

When Essendon went forward their best chance of scoring was Nate Caddy (three goals) who looked dangerous but was starved of opportunities.

It was a totally different game after the main break, as Collingwood simply took over on the back of Daicos and Pendlebury.

The Magpies took complete control in the third term and would’ve been further ahead had they been able to convert on the scoreboard.

They fixed those issues in the final term, which was all one-way traffic as Essendon looked to have frozen on a big stage.

It was an avalanche of epic proportions in the final quarter. Collingwood players lined up to take shots at goal.

And Magpies coach Craig McRae was in no mood to show any mercy, refusing to rest any of his stars despite having to back up against Hawthorn in only five days time.

Come the final term it was a record Anzac Day win for Collingwood who sent a big warning to anyone who has written off their premiership chances.