Star AFL player Scott Pendlebury’s legal fight with his former manager over allegedly pilfering $3 million of the new Gold Coast Suns recruit will continue throughout the 2027 season.
Pendlebury now faces the inevitable prospect of having to prepare for a lengthy legal battle in the Supreme Court of Victoria against leading sporting agent Jason Sourasis while playing his first season with the Gold Coast Suns.
In a short hearing on Friday, lawyers for Pendlebury told the court they were concerned Sourasis’ legal team had not properly outlined the full list of documents that are in his possession that relate to the management of Pendlebury’s affairs.
Lawyers for Pendlebury told the court they were also concerned that Sourasis’ financial planning group Strategic Financial Planning had not declared it had any documents in its possession following similar requests.
The court heard the Sourasis parties deny there was any retainer agreement between the planning firm and Pendlebury – something Pendlebury’s lawyers said was incorrect.
“Mr Pendlebury recently unearthed some documents in his email,” counsel for the football star Banjo McLachlan told the court, handing up several emails to Justice Patricia Matthews.
McLachlan said these documents included correspondence between Pendlebury and Strategic Financial thanking him for being a customer of the firm and regarding the change of his individual financial planner. It also included updates about his superannuation balance, McLachlan told the court.
The side quarrel between legal teams had already led to delays in the case. A trial date is yet to be set for the blockbuster trial.
The two-time Collingwood premiership player transferred to the sunshine state team late last year on a four-year hybrid contract where he will play for the team before transitioning to a coaching role.
The move came after Pendlebury set a record for the most senior AFL games during his last of 21 seasons with Collingwood.
As is common in case planning hearings, neither Pendlebury nor Sourasis was in court on Friday. Instead, Pendlebury is enjoying a holiday in America touring NBA facilities during his off-season before relocating with his family to Queensland.
Pendlebury launched scorching legal action against Sourasis last year alleging his long-time friend and business partner had misappropriated $3 million of his money and invested it in Sourasis’ projects.
Pendlebury alleges Sourasis took his money without his permission or knowledge over 70 transactions between 2015 and 2023. He also alleges Soruasis’ financial planning group had a duty to act in his best interests.
A large portion of Pendlebury’s cash was ploughed into Sourasis’ ill-fated development of a sporting super hub in Tarneit that was to be the home of now defunct A-League team Western United.
Sourasis also allegedly directed large sums of Pendlebury’s money to a development project in Seaford where the land has since been seized and sold by receivers.
Sourasis, the former president of Western United, has denied the allegations insisting that Pendlebury was fully aware of the transactions.
As part of his defence, Sourasis’ lawyers produced some text messages between the two former close friends that they said indicated Pendlebury knew about the transactions.
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