You only had to see tonight's performance to verify this claim.

Should be in All Australian discussion,

lol i was just praising him in another thread as you wrote this

did a number of jaw-droppingly good things tonight, as he has done the last few, is also representing the club well at press conferences, love this guy

I hope some of the more supposedly talented players read this thread.

Overall Garland gives us members and supporters the best value for money, week in week out

Edited June 22, 201312 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

He's not the best player at the club, that's Nathan Jones or Mitch Clark. He is our best defender at the moment though and is having a great season so hats off to him.

When our good players are on, he would fall back a bit, but at the moment, along with Nate Jones, he is our best and most consistent performer. Given our midfield is cr@p and the amount of ball into our back-line is like a tidal wave, he has held up really well. Still needs to work on his disposal though.

The best part about how good Colin Garland is, is how bad he was last year. Lackadaisical, prone to brainfades, and just totally lacking in intensity - he was all of those things last year; but now he's got himself totally mentally "on," and it shows.

I really like how this year even he's come full circle. At the start of the year he was just doing his defending and getting worried about it. Then he started to go to another gear and take the game on and focus on impacting the game the penny dropped at 3/4 time against GWS. He then got thrown the challenge of Cloke and a few other good forwards and stepped up as well. Now he's starting to try to beat his man at any chance and get involved in the game as much as he can. That's what leaders do.

With the way Terlich fights for the ball, tackles and takes the game on (even with a few turn overs), combined with Chips talent, Grimes and Garland and my thoughts on the backline have also started to get back to a much more positive state. We all got to see a pretty decent start from Clisby as well today that said I'm another for the mix don't rule me out. Not to mention that Tommy McDonald must get huge confidence for the way he handled Riewoldt.

But back on to the OP I don't believe so. I'd still take Frawley for his shut down on the real big dangerous forwards and thats just from the defenders. Jones as well and Clark is also a contender. The piece of play that showed the good and bad of today was when we stuffed around with it for about 20 hand balls at CHF today. Then Garland grabs the ball and bursts through a tackle only to kick it over Toumpas' head who was all by himself. It was a good piece of play from Garland which at the same time was very bad with the finish.

In terms of games played that demonstrated leadership so far this season Garland is the club house leader. With Jones second. Some good stuff by Dawes that has been hampered by injury and there's the lift that Clark gave in his first game for the year but couldn't carry on with. Grimes, Frawley and Viney the others who at times this year have said come of guys follow my lead.

He will win the Bluey easily if he continues. He and Jones would be one each then. Jones struggles with a tag, Garland can play on any forward, big or small. You'd have to say Garland is a better player. I think Frawley's a better defender, but Garland's got more heart. They are both equally important to our defence going forward though. Col's leadership is absolutely wonderful. I feel sorry for him every time the opposition kicks a goal. He is trying his guts out, often single-handedly.

On our defenders, I thought Tommy Mac was solid and unlucky tonight, but if he's going to make it as a player, he has to learn to take the game on. That's when he's at his best, rather than second-guessing himself.

Garland's potential impact on a game from a defensive point of view, as well as setting up attacks, is the equivalent of an on-song Mitch Clark up forward. Col is certainly in our top 5 best players. Perhaps even top 3.

Edited June 22, 201312 yr by AdamFarr

I just commented in the post match thread, very impressed with Garland. I won't say anymore as I agree with what has already been said

The best part about how good Colin Garland is, is how bad he was last year. Lackadaisical, prone to brainfades, and just totally lacking in intensity - he was all of those things last year; but now he's got himself totally mentally "on," and it shows.

wow, biggest back-handed compliment of all time there Gus

wow, biggest back-handed compliment of all time there Gus

I s'pose you could look at it that way, but to me it shows how quickly things can turn around if the mental application is there.

He was discussed on SEN in their "Not So Obvious AA Team." Suggested by a caller and got some serious backing. Sadly I can't see the actual AA selectors agreeing. We're just not trendy enough.

Glad he's getting a few accolades then, RM. He deserves them.

Played a great game yesterday. Was puzzling last year.

Is that a reflection of MN and his confusing gameplan?? several more weeks will tell but he played with a freedom and intuitiveness that was refreshing to see and gave us long suffering supporters some heart.

Garland is fitter, faster, and most importantly, becoming the more mature, 100 game player that Bailey used to dream of. Perhaps we have forgotten what it's like to see a player actually reach their potential but it's great to see in Col. Really fantastic actually.

I believe the condition of perpetually waiting for a player to reach full potential is called Sylviitis?

He's a gun, and great to watch. He along with Jonesy, sets the standard for on field performance from the rest of the playing group. The absolute consistency of his efforts makes him very easy to admire.

He's fed up, and he is doing something about it. Leader.

I must admit I had my doubts about him last year. He was really coming along well in 2011 and then seemed to lose his confidence to take the game on in 2012 and just went back and kicked long down the line to a contest 95 per cent of the time - which was probably just him adhering to Neeld's game plan.

This year however he has gone back to backing himself with his pace and aggression. His vision with his kicking is better and I reckon he'd be miles ahead in the Bluey Truscott Medal.

He just looks more comfortable as a leader this year. I really think it helps your footy when you come to terms with the fact that you are the one you didn't think you would ever have to be - in all levels of footy.

Excellent game and year.

This is the type of player we have got to keep around the place.

Was double figures for intercept possessions yesterday (12, I think). Reading the play perfectly right now.

Colin represents the club very well on the field and even more so off the field. He is someone I look forward to hearing from. If he wanted to he could be a regular on radio or AFL 360.

Interesting that Tim Watson (a few weeks back) named him as the player he would pick from our team, rated him very highly.

It's actually been a joy to watch his development this year, a rare highlight. He is willing to back himself now against anyone. You can see he is developing genuine swagger.

Definitely should be in AA discussion, at least for the full squad, maybe not the final cut.

before this season i didnt rate him at all, glad he has proved me totally wrong

He should be used as a case study for what has been wrong at Melbourne over the last couple of years. Was very impressed with him back in the days of Wellman being the backline coach, then all of a sudden he appeared to do some almost farcical things each match, almost as soon as Wellman left. My biggest concern was that he seemed totally lost in terms of when he should go ahead and try and win the ball himself, as opposed to waiting for his opponent to make the first move. Much of our backline has suffered from this issue over the last couple of years.

He seems to have gotten it back now and is realising his potential and playing great football. But what changed? Was it an attitude thing? Was it a confidence thing? Did he drive this turnaround himself or can it be credited to someone else? Whatever it is, please pass it on to the other players because I honestly believe we are seeing nowhere near what we should be seeing from the majority of the list. If Garland holds some sort of secret to how this can be turned around then I am glad he is a leader at our club!