Honestly, I hope that this is the straw that breaks the camels back with him. I'm not going to haul him over the hot coals like some of you have... but I do hope he gets a bit of a kick in the bum for this (whether the club gives it to him, or he takes it upon himself to do so).

I dunno... I just have a feeling that this could be a big turn-around for him. ..................................

I hope you are right mfcrox, but you have more faith than I do. Col has a history of making silly mistakes, and seems incapable of learning from them. Just so damn frustrating.

Afternoon! Sweet so he would have been able to get in a nice 4 hour cat nap and no one would have been the wiser (if his buddy had missed the pole).

I'd agree with you if it were pre-season or season proper, but this is their junk time, the Irish game is an ALF media circus/joke so for the 8 weeks between end of season and start of pre-season Col can do as he likes...

I'm not a fan of having a team of Sculliesque wowsers, obscessing about their blood sugar levels and judging the social activities of others in their down time.

Edited October 23, 201113 yr by PaulRB

Ah yes ... and of course, the Hawthorn players all behaved like choir boys during Kennett's time at the club.

Yep..you got that right. Buddy Franklin is definately not an AFL footballler on 2 strikes for cocaine use! shhhhh...its a secret...nobody is allowed to know!

Col is a goose, but not new news. He was not driving, it was a weekend in the offseason and personally i don't give a stuff if he has a massive one in the offseason ON A WEEKEND!!. Get off the blokes case. If he was the driver, i would have a different view. Ask yourself if you have ever done it.

Glass houses folks!

edit: spelling

Edited October 23, 201113 yr by Tingay02

Afternoon! Sweet so he would have been able to get in a nice 4 hour cat nap and no one would have been the wiser (if his buddy had missed the pole).

I'd agree with you if it were pre-season or season proper, but this is their junk time, the Irish game is an ALF media circus/joke so for the 8 weeks between end of season and start of pre-season Col can do as he likes...

I'm not a fan of having a team of Sculliesque wowsers, obscessing about their blood sugar levels and judging the social activities of others in their down time.

That is your opinion and fine... but to offer that as an excuse for Colin is laughable. The AFL obviously takes it seriously and believe it or not, many players consider it an honour to have an opportunity to represent their country (a very rare opportunity in our sport). So in that sense, he has let the team down. I don't give a rat's whether you think the IR games are a waste of time (even though I tend to agree on that score as well), but the fact is that by being chosen, he had a responsibility to both his team mates and to himself to exercise a little self restraint - he blew it.

As I said earlier, this is going to reflect very poorly on him, and I would be surprised if he will ever be considered for the leadership group - Moloney got away with it because he was essentially a first time offender... sadly, Colin doesn't have that defence available to him.

Colin has always reminded me of a character from Zoolander.

Young men on holidays drink and let their hair down with their mates.

Pious media and the zealots at AFL house need to get a life. This story is actually "Colin Sylvia, having realised he'd had too much to drink, asked a mate to drive him home. Unfortunately they hit a pole. Despite waiting at the scene for 1/2 hour for the police to arrive, Colin decided it was prudent to get to bed in preparation for his training session later in the day. The AFL commended him on not driving while drunk and the MFC stated that Colin was free to live it up during his holidays but that come 31 October stringent team rules would be in place...".

Afternoon! Sweet so he would have been able to get in a nice 4 hour cat nap and no one would have been the wiser (if his buddy had missed the pole).

I'd agree with you if it were pre-season or season proper, but this is their junk time, the Irish game is an ALF media circus/joke so for the 8 weeks between end of season and start of pre-season Col can do as he likes...

I'm not a fan of having a team of Sculliesque wowsers, obscessing about their blood sugar levels and judging the social activities of others in their down time.

You have got to be kidding me.

I mean, I don't think we should over-react to this but you have moved the opposite direction...

After reading your posts, I think Colin should be given an apology for the audacity of the IR team to fire him...

If you don't respect the IR - then don't agree to play in it.

As soon as the idiot said 'yes,' he made a comittment that is now as much a wreck as his Beamer...

Neeld has his work cut out for him.

Clearly doesn't care all that much about the international series.

He clearly fled because the driver was intoxicated/under the influence, or simply breaking the rules in a way one would deem unacceptable of a professional athlete (when is breaking the rules never unacceptable, though?)

Once a pretty boy, always a pretty boy. Probably our Steve Johnson: talented to hell and back, but just seems to go off the tracks sometimes. Hasn't for a while but he's always been a bit of a party animal.

I'm not a fan of having a team of Sculliesque wowsers, obscessing about their blood sugar levels and judging the social activities of others in their down time.

That's fine.

Obviously you don't expect any level of responsibility from our players if your willing to write this whole affair off as just a 'social activity in someone's down time'

What will you say next time, you know, if he is out drinking the night before one of our training sessions, and god forbid something more sinister happens on the way to Casey/AAmI park?

I would be more willing to brush this off if it was a first offense from a player with an exemplary record. This is like another dent in an already tarnished reputation. Expect more from our players- the off season isn't supposed to be one long drinking session just because you're let off the leash a month or so out of a year.

You have got to be kidding me.

I mean, I don't think we should over-react to this but you have moved the opposite direction...

After reading your posts, I think Colin should be given an apology for the audacity of the IR team to fire him...

If you don't respect the IR - then don't agree to play in it.

As soon as the idiot said 'yes,' he made a comittment that is now as much a wreck as his Beamer...

Neeld has his work cut out for him.

Hence the Zoolander reference... i.e. self obsessed and stupid.

Hence the Zoolander reference... i.e. self obsessed and stupid.

Yeah, we have watched the movie.

You admit he's an idiot.

The rest of what you have posted is just a list of excuses for Colin for his disrepect and stupidity.

You can't just admit stupidity and then just list excuses for why we shouldn't care about said stupidity.

Hence the Zoolander reference... i.e. self obsessed and stupid.

So why on earth try to defend the indefensible?

That's fine.

Obviously you don't expect any level of responsibility from our players if your willing to write this whole affair off as just a 'social activity in someone's down time'

What will you say next time, you know, if he is out drinking the night before one of our training sessions, and god forbid something more sinister happens on the way to Casey/AAmI park?

I would be more willing to brush this off if it was a first offense from a player with an exemplary record. This is like another dent in an already tarnished reputation. Expect more from our players- the off season isn't supposed to be one long drinking session just because you're let off the leash a month or so out of a year.

I expect highly disciplined behaviour from all players from the moment the pre-season starts till the final siren on the final game blows.

The rest is their time.

I find the 24/7 gossip driven media scrutiny is offensive and detrimental to young men having experiences young men need to have. Added to that the self righteous critiques of people's character that starts from an assumption of guilt etc... and it all gets ugly quickly.

Seems Colin needs to get a new mate who actually know how to drive a car!

Has anyone thought Col did the right thing and not drive under the influence. No one will know how much Colin had to drink, maybe he had his last beer at 1 or 2 am, had a bit of a sleep and to be safe he got a mate to drive home who unfortunately had an accident. OK he should of hung around but no one was hurt, he wasn't driving and like what most people do is pannick, he wouldn't of thought he just wanted to hide and hopefully no one finds out.

That was stupid but as mentioned it would have been a lot worse if he was driving and blew over 0.05 or worse still someone got hurt.

It is the last weekend before Pre-season starts I'm sure most of his team mates had a big night. IR who cares I would rather Col be ready to start Pre-season with us next Monday.

Edited October 23, 201113 yr by drdrake

If I hire a player who is flawed to act in a way that requires traits that he has not shown before, am I partly responsible when things go astray?

Colin is a known party boy, it's the off season, what do party boys do?

Edited October 23, 201113 yr by PaulRB

Apparently Neil Craig was the driver. He was seen chewing gum near the scene of the accident.

None of us know the full story. If they hadn't crashed the car, maybe he would have turned up at training and there would be no story.

I don't really care as long as he puts in a solid performance in 2012.

Apparently Neil Craig was the driver. He was seen chewing gum near the scene of the accident.

and I heard Greg Denham, desperate for a new story, cut the brake cable on Col's car.......CSI investigating

None of us know the full story. If they hadn't crashed the car, maybe he would have turned up at training and there would be no story.

I don't really care as long as he puts in a solid performance in 2012.

He is a professional footballer who gets paid to represent the Melbourne Football Club and therefore the AFL. If he wasn't in the squad to play Ireland with a training session that day then I would have no problem with his actions as they have been presented.

"Went to a mates place, stayed the night, got someone to drive him home the next day (in case he wasn't in a condition to drive himself)" good responsible stuff.

One would think the honour of representing your country (whether we think Australia V Ireland is a load of rubbish or not, it is the only way for an AFL footballer to represent their country) should have been enough for Colin to take better care of himself, if he didn't want to play because it ate into his R&R time he should have withdrawn from the squad.

Wake up Colin your career is half over and you are only half performing. Think of the message that Brent Moloney gave you at the Melbourne B&F and get your act together.

He is a professional footballer who gets paid to represent the Melbourne Football Club and therefore the AFL. If he wasn't in the squad to play Ireland with a training session that day then I would have no problem with his actions as they have been presented.

"Went to a mates place, stayed the night, got someone to drive him home the next day (in case he wasn't in a condition to drive himself)" good responsible stuff.

One would think the honour of representing your country (whether we think Australia V Ireland is a load of rubbish or not, it is the only way for an AFL footballer to represent their country) should have been enough for Colin to take better care of himself, if he didn't want to play because it ate into his R&R time he should have withdrawn from the squad.

Wake up Colin your career is half over and you are only half performing. Think of the message that Brent Moloney gave you at the Melbourne B&F and get your act together.

Spot on! There are too many apologists in this thread. If as has been reported, Col had been up drinking the night before (and who knows what state his "mate" was in), then in the circumstances, he did the wrong thing, end of story.

I'm not a fan of having a team of Sculliesque wowsers, obscessing about their blood sugar levels and judging the social activities of others in their down time.

And I am a fan of all of the above except the judgemental behaviour of others. I would hope that each of the footballers judge themselves against the highest of high standards so it is not necessary for them to be judged poorly by others.

You hear of the single minded obsessive approach it takes to win a premiership. We could do with a bit more of that. I have no problem with any footballers getting on the turps and being "party boys" . But if that is what they want then go and play in a district league and not take $400K a year to play at the highest level. You are paid the big bucks to be in the "elite" competition, then act like the "elite". I dont see it as role model problem. I see it as the behavioural price you have to pay for salary you receive to play football. Acting professionally both from a physical and behavioral standpoint is part of the job spec.

Edited October 24, 201113 yr by nutbean

The fact that Sylvia was involved in a crash at breakfast time makes him a cereal offender.

Boom. Tish. Thank you. I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

Haha, nice one.

Doing what????

FWIW, I am glad he is out of the hybrid circus.

Alot of hand wringing over very little.

Doing what????

FWIW, I am glad he is out of the hybrid circus.

Yes, I would prefer, however, that he simply decline beforehand and say to Mr Anderson - "Sorry Adrian. I have plans to get so 'right' that I am unable to even drive my car home the following morning, and that morniing happens to be a training day for the IR team."

I'm disappointed that you feel that way paulrnb.

While they're under contract they're expected to behave in an acceptable manner because they are still representing the club. Be it regular or off season the actions they chose still reflect on us!

I'm puzzled as to why so many are willing to just ignore this. How is Colin going to mature as a man if this just gets swept under the carpet? He neglected one of his responsibilities- if no sanctions then no lesson is learnt.

He's 26 now FFS is this attitude going to go on forever unchecked? Bloody hope not!

Sloonie, stop being so precious. Colin went out with friends, he did not drink or drive.

The reflection on the club is minor