Sylvia will help us win the premiership.

He is a gun.

I will guarantee you that we will not be challenging for a flag while Sylvia is in the side.

It absolutely amazes me that people still don't understand the rules of free agency.

the concept of free agency doesn't come naturally to many, who have grown up with a totally different way of things...this 'free agency' is foreign & an against the grain concept to comprehend, emotionally, & for the legalities of it.... it seems wrong, just wrong.

the game is sorrier for it...

But I am so sure that next year will be his breakout year and he will tear the comp to shreds.

He's going ok but will never be the player most had hoped for, I never set the bar that high for him.

After watching most games this year I am more convinced than previous years that Sylvia has to be traded. Watched him closely today and he is at best a cameo player who just does not present enough.

He has currency and will add to a higher placed team. We will not miss him nor his patchy performances.

He is a senior player but not a leader.

Lets get some value for him by trading.

This would of been a great idea after 2010..

I say now.. In our given state of affairs, we need his experience and physicality on the field!

He is a long way from an A grader, but can kick a goal, bust a pack and plays tall for his height. Is a front runner.. And will be handy if we can turn it around quickly!

I will guarantee you that we will not be challenging for a flag while Sylvia is in the side.

I'll take that bet.

24 months till greatness in my book. But hey, you gotta have winners and losers, even on footy forums.

I guess the point we could make is that since we cannot trade him, we may as well sign him up.

We have money in the cap, and he isn't a total liability. Trust us to invest 10 years in his unfulfilled potential only to now lose him for nothing. Typical.

In summary, sign him up, but don't kill yourself trying to do it. More important contracts to nail first.

I gave him a vote today as I could see him working hard as he has done all this season. 21 touches and another 5 tackles to maintain his 4.6 average, placing him in the league's top 50. I hope he stays.

He is a very good player.

Cant believe how many people criticize him on here, even when hes playing well, which is just about every game.

As I noted in another thread, if Sylvia wasn't a mature body, I would look to trade him too. Unfortunately, we need all the experienced bodies we can and as has been noted, we can't trade a FA.

Further convinced he simply is not a pure midfielder but a high half forward.

Behind a good midfield playing that role with short bursts through the middle will only see his best. Unfortunately that will more than likely be at another club.

Really hope we can keep him though, if a question of $$$ we have the cap space.

We do. We are pretty much double paying half our list to get up to the minimum TPP.

What Ive never seen mentioned is that Sylvia qualifies for Veterans list status. This brings two benefits - it gives you a National Draft Pick on the list rather than a rookie, plus there are Salary Cap allowances for these players. It is actually strategic madness to let him go when you can backend his contract and get some extra cap room and relief, plus your also retaining him without coughing up a primary list spot. These type of players (veteran qualifiers) are quite rare and are a strategic advantage. It's probably why Jamar got a three year deal as well.

Edited July 7, 201312 yr by goodoil

Can the MFC afford to lose any more experienced players?

Can the MFC afford to lose any more experienced players?

No but in the case of Unrestricted free agents we don't have a lot of choice

I'll take that bet.

24 months till greatness in my book. But hey, you gotta have winners and losers, even on footy forums.

24 months! At least you're optimistic.

But I am so sure that next year will be his breakout year and he will tear the comp to shreds.

Yeah playing for another side I bet.

Sylvia is a free agent. Whilst technically he can be traded, it is a very remote possibility. He would become a veteran, which is another wrinkle. I hope we just make him a reasonable offer and wish him well, should he not accept it; no baragining.

I gave him a vote today as I could see him working hard as he has done all this season. 21 touches and another 5 tackles to maintain his 4.6 average, placing him in the league's top 50. I hope he stays.

Pretty sure he's in the top 5 in the AFL for inside 50's this year. A good midfield to bounce off(at MFC or otherwise), and the consistency of effort and work rate we've seen from him this year would make him very damaging. Seems his head might finally be right, and the past is just that. Based on this year, it's very hard to argue we shouldn't try to keep him.

What Ive never seen mentioned is that Sylvia qualifies for Veterans list status. This brings two benefits - it gives you a National Draft Pick on the list rather than a rookie, plus there are Salary Cap allowances for these players. It is actually strategic madness to let him go when you can backend his contract and get some extra cap room and relief, plus your also retaining him without coughing up a primary list spot. These type of players (veteran qualifiers) are quite rare and are a strategic advantage. It's probably why Jamar got a three year deal as well.

There is no VL anymore.

Jamar and Sylvia take a spot on the Primary List. The financial situation is they can be paid $100k outside the cap but that doesn't really worry us.

There is no VL anymore.

Jamar and Sylvia take a spot on the Primary List. The financial situation is they can be paid $100k outside the cap but that doesn't really worry us.

I'd like to see that $100k outside the cap allowance apply to all players who qualify as free agents, unrestricted out otherwise. It means clubs will also be able to offer an incentive/advantage to retain free agents.

Good OP.

I also think the dees should trade Franklin and Pendlebury so we can get something for them while we have the chance.

There is no VL anymore.

Jamar and Sylvia take a spot on the Primary List. The financial situation is they can be paid $100k outside the cap but that doesn't really worry us.

Quite right - it has changed. The salary component is relevant, but the tenet of my comment is wrong as you say.

Really don't understand this

Here we are as a bottom side with a very limited midfield - and people are actually hoping that one of our few mature-bodied mids leaves!!

Yes - by reference to the champion we hoped he'd become - he has been disappointing .But he's probably playing as consistently now as he ever has. Under free agency, he has no trade currency . I just hope that somehow we can keep him.

He is a very good player.

Cant believe how many people criticize him on here, even when hes playing well, which is just about every game.

Yep,

I reckon a lot of people just can't get to the acceptance stage. Only natural because acceptance involves coming to terms with loss, the loss here being loss of our dream elite 'top 10 in the afl' player. So they're still continually wishing that he was a star of the competition... 'so much wasted talent' etc etc... 'every year we always think he's gonna have a breakout year and he never does' etc etc and sometimes even hating him for it. Time to accept reality and stop engaging in the delusional fantasy that Sylvia is or could ever be a top 10 afl player and star of the competition. The reality's that Sylvia's a very good player, occasionally even verging on great. I reckon at this stage (17th on the ladder) we should do everything to keep our good players. Sylvia's even more important to keep since he's one of the very few good players with a few years experience that we have. On the off chance he does one day get even better then that'll be a bonus.

I'd argue he's less of a priority to re-sign than Frawley and Watts, but I hope he stays.