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

wilo was a player unique. Yet he could and would give you 4 quarters of footy. He also earned a Charlie. Ive never seen Sylvia put in 4 decent qtrs , well not all in the same game and he only slightly better than a remote chance to ever wear aBrownlow. I will say though they both have/had the abilty to turn games , indeed win them off of their own boot .One has, the other i wont hold my breath for!!!

wilo was a player unique. Yet he could and would give you 4 quarters of footy. He also earned a Charlie. Ive never seen Sylvia put in 4 decent qtrs , well not all in the same game and he only slightly better than a remote chance to ever wear aBrownlow. I will say though they both have/had the abilty to turn games , indeed win them off of their own boot .One has, the other i wont hold my breath for!!!

Agreed - Willo could be brilliant, could try and do too much, could be beaten but i dont think you could fault his efforts. Col just goes missing and whilst it may be my perception - it seems to be of his own making.

As a first time poster I am more than happy to go out on a limb, open myself up to ridicule and say move Colin Sylvia to the half back line permanently.

Yes our midfield would be better served in the short term with him as a permanent fixture and even my strange friend who hates football and lurks in his room singing sea shanties and drinking cask wine knows that Melbourne needs an injection of class into it's midfield, but as time has proven he's not really that much chop unless you want to beat up on Richmond or Port.

Yes he has much value in the forward line, but considering the ball goes in there about as often as children feel compelled to hug Tony Abbott I feel he'd be left with too much time to try and find the meaning of life hidden in Mitch Clarkes Tattoos.

So why the back line you ask? It's not exactly being pessimistic to assume we are going to get pantsed in the midfield for the foreseeable future which results in the the back line being perpetually bombarded and whilst Frawley, Grimes, Rivers and Garland are admirable spoils, interceptors and solid citizens none of them bar Frawley on occasion can hit the ground with their own spit.

Whilst Sylvia isn't exactly Luke Hodge I can't see any reason he couldn't at least pull of a B grade impersonation of him. He has good burst speed and can break lines and tackles. Is very strong in the air for his size and reasonably courageous. He tackles like a man much in need of some love and affection and most importantly he can kick long and accurately.

I'm sure Mark Neeld follows this site and suggestions made by football ignorants like myself very seriously so expect the change to happen tomorrow against the Cats and watch as we finally see Sylvia deliver on all that potential.

He is an attacking weapon, and I don't know if he has too many defensive strings to his bow. We need to turn Blease/Tappy/Tynan/Bennell into this rebounding defender you speak of, to be honest I'd probably rather give Davey another run coming out of defense.

Oh and I'm sure Neeld doesn't follow this site. He would think we are a pack of nut bags!

Well I was being facetious I obviously don't believe Neeld would take any notice of my ramblings. I do however have to disagree with you. Bennell has proven time and time again he just can't get the ball and whilst I like Tapscotts bull at a gate approach he hasn't consistently been able to even crack double figures with his possession count (hopefully this is due to injury and lack of match fitness). Blease I'm hoping will develop but he doesn't have the foot skills or we simply haven't seen them and Tynan seems to fit more into the Grimes mould and at this early stage (which is probably too early to judge) and his kicking does look suspect.

I think we have a long list of flanker types. Hate to talk of potential with respect to Sylvia, been doing that for a while now, but given his strong body and sound skills he should be one of our best players. Get him in the action, maybe it takes some pressure off Trengrove. We get some more out of Trengrove and Sylvia we will look a little better in the middle.

Different player but, Perhaps Col will be playing whatever role Watts was being selected to play?

I think we have a long list of flanker types. Hate to talk of potential with respect to Sylvia, been doing that for a while now, but given his strong body and sound skills he should be one of our best players. Get him in the action, maybe it takes some pressure off Trengrove. We get some more out of Trengrove and Sylvia we will look a little better in the middle.

Different player but, Perhaps Col will be playing whatever role Watts was being selected to play?

Do you think maybe Colin will reach his "potential" sometime in the next 4 or 5 years?

He remains one of my two most frustrating players on the current list.

How long does it take before a player moves past the potential tag and supporters realise this is what you will get. Col may improve more but he is what he is. A game breaker who will show great and poor output irregularily.

He is a B to A grader. His inconsistency is what you will get. I'm not frustrated by his output, coz what he has given is what i expect in future

Col could have been one of the best players in the league and the superstar that we have been crying out for for decades, in my opinion. He has showed that through some performances but the fact is he has thrown that opportunity away and now struggles to get some consistency. Anyway, I think the half back idea could work - Davey transitioned well from forward to back.

Pull your finger out Col!!!!!

Can I remind everyone that the guy fractured his back a week before the season started...

He was bed ridden for 3 weeks and its a small miracle that the guy is actually playing football.

If this injury had occurred to any of the above posters then You would be lucky to be running let alone playing football.

Who knows how long it will take him to rebuild his strength, endurance and confidence

Can I remind everyone that the guy fractured his back a week before the season started...

He was bed ridden for 3 weeks and its a small miracle that the guy is actually playing football.

If this injury had occurred to any of the above posters then You would be lucky to be running let alone playing football.

Who knows how long it will take him to rebuild his strength, endurance and confidence

Rubbish.

If he wasn't 100% fit he shouldn't have played.

A poor effort by Sylvia.

Does anyone else think it would be worth giving him a run on the half back flank? We currently have no run and carry players capable of making a good decision from the back half bar grimes and frawley and that's dubious at best. It also remains to be seen if Tapscott and Strauss will ever perform these roles.

You only have to look at the Hawks last night and see how many offensive plays they make from their back half e.g. Suckling etc.

Yes, old Col boy defensive abilities might get found wanting but jesus christ could it get any worst. At least it will force him to play rather than sulking round the forward line.

Thoughts???

Can I remind everyone that the guy fractured his back a week before the season started...

He was bed ridden for 3 weeks and its a small miracle that the guy is actually playing football.

If this injury had occurred to any of the above posters then You would be lucky to be running let alone playing football.

Who knows how long it will take him to rebuild his strength, endurance and confidence

Fairly sure he hasn't had a broken back for his whole career. He is just a lazy pr#ck, and will never give two stuffs about this footy club. Someone else posted somewhere that he loves the idea of being a footballer, it is as simple as that.

It saddens me to say that I think Colin has gotten everything he ever wanted from proffesional football: girls, cars, fame and cash.

Edited May 12, 201213 yr by The Song Formerly Known As

Do you think maybe Colin will reach his "potential" sometime in the next 4 or 5 years?

He remains one of my two most frustrating players on the current list.

Just like Brad Miller?

He is a B to A grader. His inconsistency is what you will get. I'm not frustrated by his output, coz what he has given is what i expect in future

He is a C to D on and off the field.

We need him to play better to get a better trade for him??

I think he should actually be afforded more leniency because of his injury, but he should have started in the VFL.

I still want to trade him at year's end.

Agreed he should have earned his place through the VFL. I hope he does perform but I think its at a stage where both his and our future development require seperation and I want him to have some currency.

Does anyone else think it would be worth giving him a run on the half back flank? We currently have no run and carry players capable of making a good decision from the back half bar grimes and frawley and that's dubious at best. It also remains to be seen if Tapscott and Strauss will ever perform these roles.

You only have to look at the Hawks last night and see how many offensive plays they make from their back half e.g. Suckling etc.

Yes, old Col boy defensive abilities might get found wanting but jesus christ could it get any worst. At least it will force him to play rather than sulking round the forward line.

Thoughts???

Think this is a great idea. Not only because he's a beautiful, penetrating kick, but because generally he makes good decisions with the footy. Perhaps more importantly, it might teach him a defensive side of the game and some accountability.

Think this is a great idea. Not only because he's a beautiful, penetrating kick, but because generally he makes good decisions with the footy. Perhaps more importantly, it might teach him a defensive side of the game and some accountability.

Unfortunately Trapper Mk.2

Unfortunately Trapper Mk.2

Could be, but worth a try. At least for this season. Colin is also a lot tougher than TJ.

Unfortunately Trapper Mk.2

I understand where you are coming from but jeez it could be worthy trying, not like it could get any worse with him down there.

If I recall correctly he played a game against Carlton there in late 2009 and racked up a fair bit of the ball. Admittedly it was a game when Bailey wasn't overly concerned about winning for reasons known.