Colin Sylvia going ... going ... GONE!

[Hannibal 5,814]

No biggie.

A pretty crap midfielder that is best suited as a high half-forward finisher. There's a reason he was part of the worst midfield in history. He was "predator" in style not "first dibs", which is fine, but he didn't do it well. He was always lunging for a tackle, because he wasn't clean with his first touch, he wasn't creative, not a good handballer and couldn't read the play. Look at the possessions Swan gets from reading the play and gut running. Sylvia had the same midfield role as Swan, but simply wasn't very good at it. He wasn't a two-way runner, was lazy and played on his own terms.

He will play some good footy for Freo, as a high half-forward, which is his best role. Even then he doesn't kick miraculous goals, excel with defensive pressure, or play 4 quarter football.

Would have been happy enough to keep him, but as a highly paid player it doesn't do us much harm and may well be a blessing for both parties.

[Little Richard 6,262]

I think the first mistake many make here is to over value the REAL value he gave the team. It was over ten years a very ordinary and sometimes petulant contribution. Col seemed a very " well be thankful for whatever I give you " type

Whilst his ilk exist at Melbourne we will never climb out of mediocrity and scale upwards.

Howl me down to your hearts content but I for one am glad to see the back of him and the "which "insert player of choice" " will take the filed today types.

Personally I wish him no malice whatsoever as I really couldnt give a rats what happens one way or another, he's that irrelevant.

Next year when you see someone else in his place play with real desire and commitment you'll start to wonder what was ever the attraction about Colin Sylvia.

Thanks Fremantle

Go Dees

BB, your perception of Col is completely based on his first 5 or 6 years.

The last two seasons he has been out of the news, consistent on the field and one of our best in the middle/half forward. We are going to miss him unless we can replace him with another senior player and consistent contributor.

[Wolfmother 182]

Hope the afl pull a swifty and rank him band one thus giving us the priority pick just in another form...

He he'll be on the same coin as Thomas at Carlton

[Whispering_Jack 29,786]

This past decade has delivered very little that's good for the Melbourne Football Club. Starting in the latter half of the Daniher period, going through the Bailey years and into the brief period in which Mark Neeld was coach, we epitomised all that was wrong and bad in our code. We had a poor culture, lazy work ethic and too many players appeared to lack the care of club and self that's needed for success. To me, Colin Sylvia represented much of all that.

I'm not interested in apportioning blame - it could probably be shared in whatever proportions you like between the player, past coaches and administrations but that's no longer important.

We simply need to ensure his departure brings closure to a sorry period in the club's history.

I don't even particularly care about the compensation that we get for him. Just as long as he goes and in the end, our new coaches and our football personnel are free to develop a brand new ethos at the club.

It's testament to the lack of player development evident at Melbourne in the past that the abiding memory that I have of him as a player is of a game he played at Sandringham at the very start of his first season (he hadn't even made his AFL debut yet). He grabbed the ball in the middle and, off one step, slotted a goal from more than 70 metres out. Had Bruce McAvaney been around he might have described it as a "delicious" moment. Sylvia's kick could well have been aided a little by the wind at his back (I can't really remember if that was the case) but I never saw him recreate that moment in ten years that followed and that is why, for the good of the player and the club, it's a good time to part.

[dazzledavey36 54,281]

All the best Col.

[titan_uranus 24,974]

I can not fathom the flippancy being demonstrated here about the impending loss of Sylvia. There is a hint of the mouse with the electric pellet.

Exactly how many times does the club need to be decimated on the field by the loss of its senior players for it to sink in? Without Sylvia this year, we would have quite literally had ONE senior contributor in the midfield in Jones. We are talking here about the loss of our only other senior midfielder worth a pinch of muck.

Edit: Just seen confirmation he's gone. Getting fair compensation is now vital.

I'm with you.

Regardless of whether he's an A-grader in AFL terms, he remained one of our best midfielders and one of the few talented players on our list capable of changing games.

It's also a loss of 157 games of experience. That's now three of the 2013 list's top four of most experience: Rodan (185 games), Davey (178) and now Sylvia (157). We also lose Macdonald's 124 games. Jamar has 133 and many are thinking of letting him go too.

Only strengthens the severe importance of securing some experienced talent.

Denham is a spud! Col won't end up in Perth and I GUARANTEE that.

Lol.

[Coup Cooper 610]

Best of luck Col, hopefully you can re discover that 2010 form!

[Webber 10,454]

Not the end of the world.

This. A well chosen draftee or good swap for the compo (high 20's?), should give us much better value than Colin Sylvia has been for 10 years. Definitely a good thing IMO.

[dazzledavey36 54,281]

3 year deal for Col. Should see plenty of finals experience.

[Young Dee 1,303]

For those that are happy to see him leave:

Averaged for 2013:

20 touches

4.5 tackles

0.5 goals

4 marks

Had 9 games with more than 20 or more touches. Not many of our players averaged 20 touches this year (only 3 players had more disposals than Sylvia and they played more games).

2nd in tackles for the year and 4th for Dreamteam points.

[What 18,810]

For those that are happy to see him leave:

Averaged for 2013:

20 touches

4.5 tackles

0.5 goals

4 marks

Had 9 games with more than 20 or more touches. Not many of our players averaged 20 touches this year

Its sad that people think those stats are irreplaceable

[cowboy_from_hell 2,390]

We need to get into a financial position where we can pay 100% of the salary cap. Successful clubs can still afford to entice free agents because they have the advantage over us in that they can pay the full cap.

[Young Dee 1,303]

Its sad that people think those stats are irreplaceable

Not saying he is irreplaceable - I just posted saying he was replaceable.

I am saying that all those saying that he is no good and doesn't try (well he was our 2nd best tackler)

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,358]

I am not saying he is not a part of the problem just saying that I think he is a big talent and that he will play very well at a decent club.

Although I thought he was pretty consistent through most of the year (dipped a bit at the end).

Sylvia is a massive talent but to date his career has been a massive disappointment. Moving to Freo won't fix everything, to play Ross Lyon's game plan you have to be switched on 100% of the time not just make the occasional cameo that were used to from Col. I said in an earlier post Chapman for 2 years would be more beneficial for our club than Col for 2. Will be interesting to see how he goes.

[Machsy 2,858]

No biggie.

A pretty crap midfielder that is best suited as a high half-forward finisher. There's a reason he was part of the worst midfield in history. He was "predator" in style not "first dibs", which is fine, but he didn't do it well. He was always lunging for a tackle, because he wasn't clean with his first touch, he wasn't creative, not a good handballer and couldn't read the play. Look at the possessions Swan gets from reading the play and gut running. Sylvia had the same midfield role as Swan, but simply wasn't very good at it. He wasn't a two-way runner, was lazy and played on his own terms.

He will play some good footy for Freo, as a high half-forward, which is his best role. Even then he doesn't kick miraculous goals, excel with defensive pressure, or play 4 quarter football.

Would have been happy enough to keep him, but as a highly paid player it doesn't do us much harm and may well be a blessing for both parties.

Yes, I won't miss what he has given us so far.

I just regret not getting the opportunity to see what Roos could squeeze out of him.

Cest la vie.

The compo pick will do.

Should help our trading endeavours also.

[deanox 9,898]

This. A well chosen draftee or good swap for the compo (high 20's?), should give us much better value than Colin Sylvia has been for 10 years. Definitely a good thing IMO.

Band 2 will give us pick 20

Band 3 will give us pick 22

Band 4 will give us pick 36

Taking into account:

-Essendon and Adelaide are not in the first 2 rounds.

-Hawthorn get a first round compo for Franklin.

-Collingwood get a first round compo for Daisy

-GWS have activated their "use it whenever pick"

[ignition. 1,463]

I wonder if young Viney will take up the number 12 after his father or if he will choose to continue in the number 7 making his own path.

[Bedraggled Dee 336]

BB, your perception of Col is completely based on his first 5 or 6 years.

The last two seasons he has been out of the news, consistent on the field and one of our best in the middle/half forward. We are going to miss him unless we can replace him with another senior player and consistent contributor.

Agreed, regardless of the performance of Col over the journey the last couple of years were good in a rubish team. In a quality team with more ball and space he will be a star and we will defnately miss his strength and skill.

I wish him well but wish he had stayed. The reality of the Dees is that we will struggle to attract any A grade talent during the trade period, why do you think we ended up with Rodan, Gillies, Pedersen and Brynes? The Roos factor may play a part but finding 3 players of a similar profile and skill to Sylvia will be very diffcult unless we pay over the odds like Dawes and Clark which in our current financial state will be difficult and will impact on keeping players in the future.

Our best bet is through the draft but bringing in more youngsters in a team devoid of experience in the midfield will inevitably result in a tougher path for our young talent to develop to its potential.

I think Chappie may be an option as much for his leadership and experience as his playing ability.

[Deeoldfart 8,005]

Not sad and not glad about Col's decision .... just neutral, neither here nor there, hopefully move on to something better.

[alias275 259]

Denham is a spud! Col won't end up in Perth and I GUARANTEE that.

Great GUARANTEE there haha

I knew he was gone when he never participated in anything after seasons end. All the players keen to make a difference hung around the club.

All the best at Freo Col. Show the AFL what you couldn't do for us.

Edited October 3, 2013 by alias275

[pantaloons 2,019]

Band 2 will give us pick 20

Band 3 will give us pick 22

Band 4 will give us pick 36

Taking into account:

-Essendon and Adelaide are not in the first 2 rounds.

-Hawthorn get a first round compo for Franklin.

-Collingwood get a first round compo for Daisy

-GWS have activated their "use it whenever pick"

Band 3 will work well. Only a couple of spots lower than band 2, and the AFL can give us a good second round pick without having to put up with another ninny fit from other clubs by giving us a band 2 pick.

If we ended up getting a pick around 22 and took a hard-working, top class midfielder effectively in return for Sylvia, it would be a tremendous stroke of fortune.

[Young Dee 1,303]

I wonder if young Viney will take up the number 12 after his father or if he will choose to continue in the number 7 making his own path.

I don't really care what number our players wear. As long as they turn up to play.

[Hannibal 5,814]

For those that are happy to see him leave:

Averaged for 2013:

20 touches

4.5 tackles

0.5 goals

4 marks

Had 9 games with more than 20 or more touches. Not many of our players averaged 20 touches this year (only 3 players had more disposals than Sylvia and they played more games).

2nd in tackles for the year and 4th for Dreamteam points.

Self ownership.

It would be touch and go if Sylvia would be Sydney's 7th or 8th best mid in 2013. I can argue a case that he just pipped Tom Mitchell into 7th, but one could easily argue the other way. Sylvia averaged 19.4 to Mitchell's 19.3; and Mitchell played his first game as a sub What a relief that Col nudged young Mitchell who was in his first year.

These Sydney players had statistically better years in 2013:

McVeigh

Kennedy

Hannebery

Jack

O'Keefe

Parker

All averaged more disposals and goals except for O'Keefe who averaged the same in goals per game.

Sylvia, supposedly in his prime and a former top 3 draft pick, managed to sneak in ahead of a first year rookie. Wowee.

[Hannibal 5,814]

I am saying that all those saying that he is no good and doesn't try (well he was our 2nd best tackler)

He was second in tackles, because he never got the ball at stoppages and was always trying to tackle the player who had already read it better.

[Bedraggled Dee 336]

Self ownership.

It would be touch and go if Sylvia would be Sydney's 7th or 8th best mid in 2013. I can argue a case that he just pipped Tom Mitchell into 7th, but one could easily argue the other way. Sylvia averaged 19.4 to Mitchell's 19.3; and Mitchell played his first game as a sub What a relief that Col nudged young Mitchell who was in his first year.

These Sydney players had statistically better years in 2013:

McVeigh

Kennedy

Hannebery

Jack

O'Keefe

Parker

All averaged more disposals and goals except for O'Keefe who averaged the same in goals per game.

Sylvia, supposedly in his prime and a former top 3 draft pick, managed to sneak in ahead of a first year rookie. Wowee.

Not sure your comparing apples with apples there. Stick most of the Swans on there own in Melbournes midfield and there numbers will drop significantly. No player other than someone like Ablett can do it on there own. Sylvia could have been better but could have been alot worse.