Mitchell lauds Pendlebury's seismic AFL move to Suns

Around 12 hours after Collingwood's season ended, Pendlebury announced he was leaving the Magpies and would join Gold Coast.

Mitchell - a four-time premiership star with Hawthorn - ended his playing career at West Coast and stayed with the Eagles to transition into a coaching role.

He was lauded for his work as an assistant under Adam Simpson when the Eagles won the 2018 premiership.

Mitchell then returned to Hawthorn and, after the succession plan with Alastair Clarkson spectacularly imploded, took over as senior coach from the 2022 season.

Pendlebury will also join Gold Coast as a player, and then move into coaching.

"Seeing things from the other side is always going to be very different," Mitchell told AFL360.

"Also, it's not just the way you can do and the way you don't do things, it's just what questions to ask, seeing how things are doing (at) different organisations.

"It obviously gives you a much more rounded view of the game and makes you recognise what you've had, and also some things that can potentially be better.

"If he wants to be a senior coach - which it sounds like it does - credit it to him, to make a tough call."

Mitchell said he was surprised when the news broke.

"I thought it was a rumour and one of those things you don't worry about, then you see it's legitimate," he said.

"I don't know him well, but he seems to be quite a thoughtful person, who has thought it through with a level of detail.

"The fact that it happened so quickly, I suspect enough people knew what was going to happen."

Pendlebury's former Magpies teammate Nathan Buckley was also enthusiastic about Pendlebury's career move.

"He's not going to be a player forever, and this is the perfect lead-in to whatever aspirations he has beyond that," Buckley told On The Couch.

"I'm rapt to see him move out of Collingwood, go to another environment, learn more there, and be super ready to take whatever the next steps are."