Colin Sylvia

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I thought he'd do really well at Freo.

Got this one wrong. Massively.

Fortunately Roos makes these decisions now.

[Gipsy Danger 1,067]

"Winners never quit. Quitters never win"

See ya Col

[LegsLeoncelli 162]

been 20 years since i graced the salty charms of willy.

Can't be bothered to learn how to put together GIFs, and get embarrassed asking Song to do it for me, so:

Off topic: It was so encouraging to see so many young (20-30 y.o.) MFC supporters (and hopefully members) wearing jerseys, scarves, etc. on the way out of the ground on Friday night. Certainly not having a go at our older members, but I think that time-slot is much more conducive to our younger supporters than Sunday arvos.

[Little Richard 6,219]

I thought he'd do really well at Freo.

Got this one wrong. Massively.

Fortunately Roos makes these decisions now.

And fortunately, we did very well out of it by grabbing Bernie.

[Macca 16,743]

Part of being a top player is effort, dedication, absolute determination, vision/creativity and skill. All the great players have all these attributes but most players fall short in at least one area. Sylvia's greatest deficiency was his lack of vision and creative skills - he didn't have the capacity to bring his teammates into the game to any great extent. Usually players with his base talents can do that but he couldn't.

If we look back in hindsight it was a glaring omission from his game - 'rjay' alerted us about it a few years ago and It's something that many of us couldn't see unless we were really looking. Looks can be deceiving sometimes.

His game was far more suited to a bygone era really ... if he had played in the 80's or the early to mid 90's he would have probably had a much more fruitful career. He came into football when the game was changing to dramatic effect - 2 way running, flooding, the 'press' and a heavy slant towards players being good defensively caught a lot of our players out - not just Col.

I bear him no grudges.

[What 18,810]

and we effectively swapped him out for Bernie Vince

Paul Roos is god

[jnrmac 19,946]

Really!? do you actually follow this club?

- 2010 Colin finishes 5th in B&F with 10 Brownlow votes - MFC coached by under siege Dean Bailey finish 12th with 8 wins.

- 2011 Colin finishes ?th in B&F with 10 Brownlow votes - MFC coached Sacked after Geelong fiasco, finish 13th with 8 wins.

- 2012 ... we thought it couldn't get worse... new coach... happy times Colin loses interest.

- 2013 ... see 2012 with another coach sacking... interim coach... Colin happy to exit at years end having once again finished 5th in B&F.

I'd call that the doldrums resulting from a sub-standard MFC for many years, that endured without complaint.

I'd call a senior player who was there for 10 years and never finished inside the top 5 in the B&F when he had more talent than just about anybody a large cause of the problem. Exactly why we were in the doldrums.

What are you? Some kind of gen xer always blaming someone else for your woes? I get it. You are Col's Mum.

Laziest player ever to pull on a boot at the MFC.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,013]

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,559]

Col is a nice enough bloke.

But he and Frawley were part of the problem - trading on talent alone or past all aussie status (frawley). Happy to just be an afl player and float along without ever really showing leadership or accountability for poor effort footy.

Col clearly decided to retire two years ago and the club 'fattened the calf' to try and boost the compo calling him a 'required player'.

[RickyJ45 399]

Mike Sheahan reckons someone at Freo should get a clip over the ears for this....

http://www.sen.com.au/news/04-15/sheahan-recruiting-sylvia-has-embarrassed-the-dockers

and then 10 slabs for being able to build such a great list with the likes of fyfe etc and be 4-0 on the ladder....and still have the space to waste on duds like col

[Demonsone 2,015]

Playing AFL is not for everyone regardless of the talent you may have.....

The AFL Players Association harbours concerns about the growing demands from clubs through increasingly heavy training loads, gruelling pre-seasons and a weekly calendar punctuated more frequently each season by meetings. This on top of the intensive public scrutiny further impacted by the growth of social media.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

And fortunately, we did very well out of it by grabbing Bernie.

And Brayshaw for Frawley.

Contrast that to the Neeld period during which we effectively got nudda for Rivers and Martin.

Bernie is already one of my favourite players.

Roos is a dead set genius at this stuff.

[chook fowler 19,304]

Playing AFL is not for everyone regardless of the talent you may have.....

The AFL Players Association harbours concerns about the growing demands from clubs through increasingly heavy training loads, gruelling pre-seasons and a weekly calendar punctuated more frequently each season by meetings. This on top of the intensive public scrutiny further impacted by the growth of social media.

Yes but there are hundreds of young kids out there who would give anything to have been given the opportunity that Colin has squandered.

[Pipefitter 2,144]

Vince for Sylvia. Hogan for Scully. Brayshaw for Frawley. After nearly a decade of list management nightmares the wheel is starting to turn.

[spirit of norm smith 15,561]

MFC 157 games

Three times finished 5th in Best and Fairest.

Smashed the Tiges.

Wasted talent. Discipline issues.

Great bloke and very good with time for kids at family days/clinics.

Thanks and good luck.

Full stop.

[spirit of norm smith 15,561]

Vince for Sylvia. Hogan for Scully. Brayshaw for Frawley. After nearly a decade of list management nightmares the wheel is starting to turn.

I love it

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Vince for Sylvia. Hogan for Scully. Brayshaw for Frawley. After nearly a decade of list management nightmares the wheel is starting to turn.

Geez we dodged a bullet on Scully.

Not only did we get great compo for him, we saved a bucket load of dough in terms of our cap.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Vince for Sylvia. Hogan for Scully. Brayshaw for Frawley. After nearly a decade of list management nightmares the wheel is starting to turn.

And pick 2 for Tyson AND Salem.

Pick 21 or so for Frost.

Pick 600 for Garlett.

Lumumba for Judas.

Newton for nudda.

vandenBerg for a bag of fairy floss from a country fair.

[AzzKikA 2,371]

And we put up with his crap for how many years? Freo only put up with it for 1 and a bit, just hope there isn't anyone like that on our list now.

[Lucifers Hero 39,072]

A sorry tale: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-04-28/sylvia-and-fremantle-a-marriage-made-in-hell?utm_medium=RSS

Extracts from article:

He never earned that respect.

But what eventually transpired at Fremantle could not be blamed on Sylvia's former club. A driven individual, hungry to make an impression, would have raised the bar himself. Sylvia never did…

…He raised the ire of his coach when he got suspended for striking in the WAFL in early 2014.

His captain Matthew Pavlich spoke of his trouble assimilating into the group.

Lyon famously told 3AW: "He (Sylvia) has played a certain way for a long time and he needs to shift. We are not bending for Col. He needs to bend for us."

He did not bend. He broke.

Lyon and the club lost patience in February after another summer of failing to meet training standards and he was banished to the WAFL…

…But Sylvia did not respond.

There were rumours he was uninterested during Peel Thunder's first two practice matches.

He withdrew from round two due to a (minor) calf injury and he suffered reported concussion in round five.

That was his last game for Peel.

Reading this and other articles there is a hint that he overstated his calf injury and 'reported' concussion. I cant imagine anything that would send Lyon ballistic more than that. Silly boy, Col.

Footnote: Just heard Ralph on SEN, say Silvia is the greatest wasted talent of the last 20 years!! Big call! Not sure I totally agree but he would be towards the top of that list.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Lucifer's Hero

[Bossdog 2,002]

Maybe, we as supporters really want our players to have the drive to play the best they can

Col had the ability but was not driven to be the star that everyone wanted him to be

Many players have great ability but don't want it as much as we think they should

I think AFL footy was just a job for Col, nothing more nothing less.

In a day when AFL footy is an obsession with players.....It wasn't for Col

Good luck to him is his future endeavours

I would be happy to play 150 odd games and get well paid for it and now move on to something else.

[FireOath 290]

Who else would be wasted talent?

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,664]

Who else would be wasted talent?

Laurence Angwin probably has everyone covered.

[Tony Tea 2,806]

I am still laughing at my Freo mates who, to a man, kept saying things like "Col will come good."

[praha 11,224]

Not sure I take kindly to this Robbo article. Does he do any research?

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/colin-sylvia-retired-after-failing-to-maximise-his-immense-talent-writes-mark-robinson/story-e6frf3e3-1227325516212

It was said last night that if there were better leaders at Melbourne when Sylvia arrived, it might've been different.

"Leaders" at Melbourne when he arrived:

David Neitz

James McDonald

Jeff White

Adam Yze

To name a few.