Colin Sylvia

[H_T 3,049]

Hasn't quite had the best of pre-seasons by all reports having spent time in rehab groups whilst the main group trained on and will miss the opening game of the 2012 season through suspension (1 week). But on a positive note has participated in the main group recently.

He can be influential in games like no other player in the team when hot, but these games are considered few and far between. His best is 'A' grade and that should be a standard he must push himself to constantly. Adhering to team rules off the field as well as on the field is what he needs to work on. Constantly.

Having been overlooked again for the leadership group is a tell-tale sign that despite the youth take on the LG, he is found wanting in this area, along with some of his teammates.

I consider him to be under the pump by Neeld and co. and he needs to produce as best he can consistently. It's important he does for the team and significantly for his own sake. Once again, it's time to order the blow torch for Col.

[Samsara 65]

Most dissapointing aspect of pre-season reports is the lack of information on Col, and the fact that he has spent much of his time in the rehab group.

A player with so much potential, but offer seems to be just going through the motions. We just resigned him to a new contract, so I am hoping he can put 100% into each and every game from now until end of 2013 season, where we will have a good idea of where he stands.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Samsara

[beelzebub 23,390]

Going to be a very interesting year for one Colin Sylvia. We all know why. We've all added thousands of words to this forum about him....and yet the enigma remains the same.

Probably the player that has come toannoy me the most on our list. Annoy me because he can, and often doesnt.

Interesting season ahead indeed .

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I reckon Colin Sylvia will be the sort of player who will retire in years to come with soooo much potential. Now in his 9th year of AFL footy, its about time we stop the potential tag on Sylvia. How about he just delivers consistently for one year if not more?

[old dee 24,000]

I reckon Colin Sylvia will be the sort of player who will retire in years to come with soooo much potential. Now in his 9th year of AFL footy, its about time we stop the potential tag on Sylvia. How about he just delivers consistently for one year if not more?

Trapper all over again?

[rhaz 342]

I hope we have a great win in Round 1 with no injuries, meaning the Round 2 side has 'no changes' and Col has to slug it out at Casey. He is way too good for that level but i cant think of any other way to get him to work harder/be consistent.

He is still one of my favourite players in the whole league, and would be my absolute #1 if he just had his great games more often. Has the right stuff to win a Brownlow, it just doesn't come out enough.

[drdrake 3,203]

He might be in his 9th season but his first 4 was over coming and managing OP, from Memory it was only about 2-3 years ago he had the operation to fix this. To me Col Sylvia is a midfielder that has had to spend to much time playing deep forward due to injury restrictions and our lack of key forwards. The ideal role for Col is that high half forward that plays more like the old fashioned wingman linking the backs to forwards. I would like to see him spend more time in the midfield but once again you want him to play that old fashioned centreman working between the defensive and attacking 50m arcs.

We need Col delivering the footy to our forwards and also work to be able to kick those 50m+goals.

I think we are still to see the best of Col, hopefully we can get 8-10games of the very good Col and only 1-2 games of the very bad Col in 2012. He is the most dangerous player on our list when playing well.

[monoccular 17,642]

Disappointing is the one succinct word that I would use for Colin.

His best is just bloody amazing, really as good as any player in the competition.

As so many have observed, the problem is that he rarely if ever shows it even twice in a season, and that just ain't enough! I honestly cannot remember even two "good" games in the space of a month.

And we have heard so many excuses over the years - injury, no preseason, OP, "issues", etc etc - well Colin, enough is enuf!

IT IS TIME, 2012, TO PRODUCE THE GOODS WEEK AFTER WEEK AFTER WEEK - otherwise you will always be remembered as someone who could have but didn't because you didn't care enough and really want it enough.

IF you REALLY wanted to (rather than would just like to) you could win a Brownlow.

[old dee 24,000]

He might be in his 9th season but his first 4 was over coming and managing OP, from Memory it was only about 2-3 years ago he had the operation to fix this. To me Col Sylvia is a midfielder that has had to spend to much time playing deep forward due to injury restrictions and our lack of key forwards. The ideal role for Col is that high half forward that plays more like the old fashioned wingman linking the backs to forwards. I would like to see him spend more time in the midfield but once again you want him to play that old fashioned centreman working between the defensive and attacking 50m arcs.

We need Col delivering the footy to our forwards and also work to be able to kick those 50m+goals.

I think we are still to see the best of Col, hopefully we can get 8-10games of the very good Col and only 1-2 games of the very bad Col in 2012. He is the most dangerous player on our list when playing well.

So was Trapper.

I think he would want to have a consistantly good year in 2012 or might be on the trade list come September.

[Jack Jack 415]

He might be in his 9th season but his first 4 was over coming and managing OP, from Memory it was only about 2-3 years ago he had the operation to fix this. To me Col Sylvia is a midfielder that has had to spend to much time playing deep forward due to injury restrictions and our lack of key forwards. The ideal role for Col is that high half forward that plays more like the old fashioned wingman linking the backs to forwards. I would like to see him spend more time in the midfield but once again you want him to play that old fashioned centreman working between the defensive and attacking 50m arcs.

We need Col delivering the footy to our forwards and also work to be able to kick those 50m+goals.

I think we are still to see the best of Col, hopefully we can get 8-10games of the very good Col and only 1-2 games of the very bad Col in 2012. He is the most dangerous player on our list when playing well.

From memory it wasn't until someone suggested a certain way of strapping or taping that he actually got some relief from his OP ailment.

Consistency in his performance should come with consistency in our team performance. But certainly it would be a sight for sore eyes to see him fit and regularly performing in the midfield. Sadly with him injured over the pre season I don't see this happening this year.

Maybe he could still be utilised in the midfield but with a majority of his time in the forward line? Similar to Swan and Ablett but accounting for the difference in work rates/ fitness.

[Roost It 1,434]

Potential my ass. He is incapable of playing 100 minutes of football for more than a handful of games per season. That is his potential. What you see is what you get. He has the body for football not the mind. He doesn't and never had the potential to be anything more than he is because of this. Quite a few on this forum need to realise this.

[BIG JIM 508]

How old is col now? he really gets to me sometimes. I wish he would just get out there and use the god given skill he has and start to turn games for us. i think he is sometimes just in another world. Please col do it for your fans and knuckle down just like beamer said at the b&f you could be anything. GO DEES

[Bossdog 2,002]

Potential my ass. He is incapable of playing 100 minutes of football for more than a handful of games per season. That is his potential. What you see is what you get. He has the body for football not the mind. He doesn't and never had the potential to be anything more than he is because of this. Quite a few on this forum need to realise this.

Scored 10 votes in the Brownlow. 2nd best of all players at MFC, led the club for goal assists and second for tackles, and top five for possessions better than Trenners,Jones,McKenzie ect. A lot better than people give him credit for.

[BIG JIM 508]

Scored 10 votes in the Brownlow. 2nd best of all players at MFC, led the club for goal assists and second for tackles, and top five for possessions better than Trenners,Jones,McKenzie ect. A lot better than people give him credit for.

Wow did not see his year that good but stats dont lie i think we all know he should be number 1 in all these stats because he is so good when on.

[H_T 3,049]

Scored 10 votes in the Brownlow. 2nd best of all players at MFC, led the club for goal assists and second for tackles, and top five for possessions better than Trenners,Jones,McKenzie ect. A lot better than people give him credit for.

Came 11th in the B&F. Behind Trengove, Jones, McKenzie etc. Mckenzie missed a fair chunk of the 2011 season too.

It's all relative.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

So was Trapper.

I think he would want to have a consistantly good year in 2012 or might be on the trade list come September.

Trapper was a No 1 draft pick, broadly assessed as the best talent in his year. And I can understand why. His good points at his peak were intoxicating. However Trapper never worked out what was required to be truly succcessful be as good as he could have been. He was a wasted talent. We did get good years in 2002 and 2005. But it was a poor return in over 10 years at the Club.

Sylvia has talents but not to match winning capability of TJ. He was OPed early in his career that held him back. I have no doubt Col puts in the effort. I dont think at times he has the smarts under pressure. But I think with Col its WYSIWYG.

I hope he is the sort of player that does get better as the team does. I think Ben H made a good observation about Sylvia being a finisher and predator..If we could get a productive side going with a multi pronged forward line then Sylvia would be a hard player to cover. Great overhead for his size, strong and can kick 50+m goals. While I dont see him in the midfield I can see him there in short bursts.

Came 11th in the B&F. Behind Trengove, Jones, McKenzie etc. Mckenzie missed a fair chunk of the 2011 season too.

It's all relative.

Agree I have never viewed B'low votes as a reliable metric of performance in a side.

[old dee 24,000]

Trapper was a No 1 draft pick, broadly assessed as the best talent in his year. And I can understand why. His good points at his peak were intoxicating. However Trapper never worked out what was required to be truly succcessful be as good as he could have been. He was a wasted talent. We did get good years in 2002 and 2005. But it was a poor return in over 10 years at the Club.

Sylvia has talents but not to match winning capability of TJ. He was OPed early in his career that held him back. I have no doubt Col puts in the effort. I dont think at times he has the smarts under pressure. But I think with Col its WYSIWYG.

I hope he is the sort of player that does get better as the team does. I think Ben H made a good observation about Sylvia being a finisher and predator..If we could get a productive side going with a multi pronged forward line then Sylvia would be a hard player to cover. Great overhead for his size, strong and can kick 50+m goals. While I dont see him in the midfield I can see him there in short bursts.

Agree I have never viewed B'low votes as a reliable metric of performance in a side.

Agree RR

The similarity for me is they are both very good when they are on song but when not they are ordinary there seems little middle ground.

Trapper was a wasted talent as you suggest I fear Sylvia will end up the same.

I remember a Sylvia five goal game against Hawthorn a couple of years ago he almost won the game himself.

Sadly these are all too rare

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Agree RR

The similarity for me is they are both very good when they are on song but when not they are ordinary there seems little middle ground.

Trapper was a wasted talent as you suggest I fear Sylvia will end up the same.

I remember a Sylvia five goal game against Hawthorn a couple of years ago he almost won the game himself.

Sadly these are all too rare

OD, I think Sylvia is what he is. i hope we get more from him but I am not sure. Expectations have always been high on Sylvia when we took him pick 3 in the dismal 2003 draft. It was a poor vintage year and aside from Cooney I have seen little that elite from that year. I think Sylvia is more your typical pick 13 to 19. And FWIW its worth we took Bate and Dunn round there too in 2004. Trapper always had the magic about him until about 2006 but he never delivered on it consistently.

[Jordie_tackles 354]

What are the odds that Neeld will come in and change this guy?

I think it will happen one way or another. The standards are set now and Neeld wont accept crap from guys like Sylvia in the way Bailey did/

Once Sylvia gets flushed back into the seconds for a while (if required) then something will click. When he doesnt get things his way, things will click.

[old dee 24,000]

What are the odds that Neeld will come in and change this guy?

I think it will happen one way or another. The standards are set now and Neeld wont accept crap from guys like Sylvia in the way Bailey did/

Once Sylvia gets flushed back into the seconds for a while (if required) then something will click. When he doesnt get things his way, things will click.

or he will be trade bait come September

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

The standards are set now and Neeld wont accept crap from guys like Sylvia in the way Bailey did/

A bit revisionist. I do recall Bailey suspending Sylvia for a couple of off field matters.

Sylvia has played his best football under Bailey and has slowly got better each year.

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/players/C/Colin_Sylvia.html

or he will be trade bait come September

If Sylvia stuffs up or has a huge form drop then he will be questionable trade bait.

[rhaz 342]

Sylvia + Mid Range compo pick for Gaff

note: i really really like Col and still think he can get to the stage where he produces consistently

Edited February 17, 2012 by rhaz

[dee-luded 2,959]

Going to be a very interesting year for one Colin Sylvia. We all know why. We've all added thousands of words to this forum about him....and yet the enigma remains the same.

Probably the player that has come toannoy me the most on our list. Annoy me because he can, and often doesnt.

Interesting season ahead indeed .

Player comparison, Brian 'Willo' Wilson...enigmatic the.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Sylvia + Mid Range compo pick for Gaff

note: i really really like Col and still think he can get to the stage where he produces consistently

Sylv', Or Davey ++... or poss' a Bennell??? We'll see.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

If Sylvia underperforms on or off field then it dubious trade value coupling an underperformed player with a player who is past it or a player who is fringe.

Team wont buy a showbag of mediocrity and give up a talent like Gaff.