I for one would like to see Garland get another chance, not a lot of chances, but at least one to have a good crack at playing in this side. I feel that we have given games to new backs, which we had to do, but the new guys do not own these positions either and that positions can now be earned on merit all over the ground.

 

 

 

Has been a faithful, loyal and sound servant of the club over many years.  I'll go out on a limb here compared to many here in this forum and state that I think his best footy is pretty good.

 It certainly would be a great footy story for him to break his way back into the side 'play his role , and taste some team success. 

One of the most loyal MFC servants of the last decade. I wouldn't say he's 'cooked', but it's clear that some of his teammates have moved past him in the pecking order. Very handy depth though 

 

Trivia Question: How many coaches (including stand-ins after sackings) has Colin Garland played at least one AFL game under?

Answer: 8

That's roughly one coach for every 17.5 AFL games he has played. Or, one new coach per 4.25 wins he has played in.

I just really hope that, by whatever quirk of list management or sudden burst of form, he gets a run of games at some point this season and gets to play and win a final or four.

Some excerpts from the 'footywire.com' bio:

Wednesday, 7 October 2015

Colin Garland rejects free agency and commits to Melbourne until the end of the 2018 season.

"I told my manager I didn't want to speak to any other club, but it's funny after seeing one of my great mates [James Frawley] win a premiership on the weekend, because you have to be envious of success," Garland said.

"I was watching the game and people said, 'Wouldn't you love success?' and I said, 'It wouldn't mean anything to me unless it was with Melbourne'.

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Colin Garland will spend some time on the sidelines after undergoing surgery for a broken hand.

Garland showed extraordinary courage to play out the Queen Birthday's game against Collingwood despite sustaining the injury in the first quarter.

"[He] knew that we were struggling a little bit and one man down, so he played the whole game with a broken hand," Melbourne fitness coach Dave Misson said.

Friday, 6 September 2013

Nathan Jones has taken out his second successive best and fairest award for the Demons, winning the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy.

Jones won with 365 votes in a remarkably close count, just shading consistent defender Colin Garland who finished on 360 votes.

Garland's best has been as good as any medium defender in the league.  The problem is that we haven't seen it very often.  If you look back over his career though, there have been some great things.  I'm told that it was he who kept Buddy to one goal during the year he broke the ton (I swear I remember Warnock manning him up that game, but I'm told by those who have it available to watch that it was actually Col).  A couple of years ago under Roos he had a run of games where he was unstoppable, but sadly injured himself and never again showed that kind of form. 

What conclusion can we draw from this?  If he is at his fittest and playing hard, committed football to his best, he is more than able to hold his own with Frost, Oscar, Wagner et al.  However, he has suffered repeated injuries and form fluctuations which make me wonder whether he can be consistent enough, or consistently good enough, to hold down a place. 

I'd absolutely love it if he were to force his way into the side as HBF to replace Wagner.  He's been a great servant of the club and from that perspective deserves the opportunity to play senior football again. 

I would love to see him make it back and actually play in a winning team. He has had to endure so many losses it only seems right for him to experience some of the good times.

It's going to be tough, but with Lumumba gone, Dunn at Collingwood and Melksham and Hibberd coming off a year out there is an outside chance Garland could sneak into the back six with an injury or two.

Spots are going to be harder to come by this season.

When he takes the game on he is unstoppable, but does not always do it, for some reason he has lost confidence in taking the game on even for Casey, his dash from half back are great, he is not competitive enough,  I think that has been Goodwin Mantra  competitive hard at it bull at the Gates.

I think Garlo was born to be a footy historian, special comments man or perhaps part of the media team at a club.

The thread poll gives a clear indication that most feel sorry for what he's 'been through' which in my opinion has always been a whole lot of fluff and has always explained why supporters have developed a soft spot for him and have defended him. Especially when he says things like, "Success wouldn't mean anything to me unless it was with Melbourne". Romantic and sweet, but really, he was hardly a driving force of light during those dark years and if anything, he displayed defeatist body language on many occasions. Unlike Nathan Jones.

And that's the difference. Garlo has never possessed a killer instinct quality to his game which has contributed to his defeatist attitude at times and is a reason why he hasn't come out the other side like Jones has successfully been able to do.

Nice guy, average player.

The fact he can't get a look in should be music to supporters ears as far as I'm concerned. It means we've improved our list. Not sure why anyone would want the alternative.

Even I can admit, as a Garland supporter in the past, that he is nothing more than a depth player for us now.

However, he is still a very handy depth player to have with his experience.  He can play on the talls and smalls and if, god forbid, a few of our key defenders went down with injury, he can come in a fill that void well.  

Would love Humphrey to make a comeback but there is an adjective I associate with him that I feel is keeping him from the seniors.

Scarred.

It's been a while since it's been bought up and for upwards of 3/4's of the list, mental scarring isn't an issue anymore. However, I remember Col still slumping after opposition goals and having to be rallied by teammates to get back on task. I could be wrong but that is my observation as an outsider looking in.

Also our depth these days doesn't help him and he will need a teammate to get injured to get a shot. 

Hope that team success does come and fulfill his comments.

Hope that Col contributes by setting a high standard that others have to beat to be part of that success.

It would be great if he could play those highlights consistently and in greater volume.

Someone above mentioned loyalty, to be quite harsh, he's only loyal because he would struggle to get a spot on any other team.  I, too, would be loyal if I knew that my only chance of being on an AFL list would be to stay at Melbourne.

He's not the only player, and we're not the only team that that applies to, so I don't mean for it to sound like a personal attack.

I have always thought that an inform Garland added something to the side. However, an out of form Garland was at times a liability.

I suspect that unless we have a rash of injuries, his chances are limited, and therefore it will be difficult for him to get games and gain confidence. He is very much a confidence player. 

Given Goodwin's game style and the changes that have occurred in our playing list, the new additions to our defensive zone, and the emphasis on hardness around the ball and outside spread, time may have passed him buy. However, he does add depth at least for 2017.

I put him in the same bracket as Grimes. A great club servant, but doesn't fit the mould of where we're going.

We have recruited players who play on and look to break lines. Garland is slow to turn around, kicks it sideways or goes down the boundary. I know we did see glimpses of a player in 2011/12, but that's all it was. 

1 hour ago, billy2803 said:

Someone above mentioned loyalty, to be quite harsh, he's only loyal because he would struggle to get a spot on any other team.  I, too, would be loyal if I knew that my only chance of being on an AFL list would be to stay at Melbourne.

He's not the only player, and we're not the only team that that applies to, so I don't mean for it to sound like a personal attack.

This is a rewriting of history. He may be depth now but there have been stages of Garland's career where he absolutely would've garnered interest from other clubs.

You don't have to search very far to find threads on here with posters gushing about his performances. Granted it was during some lean years but it doesn't mean he wasn't at one stage a rated defender. Example below.

Injuries are probably the only way he gets a look in but I won't cringe seeing Garlo's name on the teamsheet. I hope he gets to taste another win or two. He deserves it as much as anyone.

 

Never fully recovered from his ankle going late in 2013. He was on fire that year. When his ankle went he lacked the fitness to play on hard running half forwards and stopped being a two way player.

He's never been a key defender. He's a running player who could defend and intercept and had a nice long kick. 

He's looked good in preseason and played well in the intraclub so I expect he'll do very well in the VFL and if he gets a chance I hope he plays well but I can see why others are preferred to him.

36 minutes ago, P-man said:

This is a rewriting of history. He may be depth now but there have been stages of Garland's career where he absolutely would've garnered interest from other clubs.

You don't have to search very far to find threads on here with posters gushing about his performances. Granted it was during some lean years but it doesn't mean he wasn't at one stage a rated defender. Example below.

Injuries are probably the only way he gets a look in but I won't cringe seeing Garlo's name on the teamsheet. I hope he gets to taste another win or two. He deserves it as much as anyone.

 

Not really re-writing history.  Even in our lean years, we had to have a list of 40-odd players.  Do we call all of them loyal because they were on our list at that time?  Maybe Garland was offered a lot more to stay with us than what other clubs may have been offering.  Does that make him loyal?  Maybe he didn't attract interest at other clubs meaning he had no option than stay.

His last contract extension was more where I was implying he had us or no-one (I realise I didn't state it as that, sorry).  But I guess if the likes of Dunn can get picked up, then the "ones trash is another treasure" saying is still alive and well in the AFL, and will continue to prolong the careers of some players.

Part of the reason the club was very ordinary over the last decade

Like Grimes, Garland is a very ordinary footballer at the top AFL level

1 hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Part of the reason the club was very ordinary over the last decade

Like Grimes, Garland is a very ordinary footballer at the top AFL level

....for a variety of reasons, injury being at least part of their limitations.  

When any player suffers a succession of injuries,  or a serious injury, especially early in their careers, one cannot really tell just what level they could have reached without that injury.  Molan is in my view a classic example: berated by many here as a "dud", he never got a chance to show anyone just what he could (or could not) do.  

1 hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Part of the reason the club was very ordinary over the last decade

Like Grimes, Garland is a very ordinary footballer at the top AFL level

Totally agree SWYL. To me he is just a lackadaisical footballer. He has his supporters on here, but i have just never seen the benefits he provides.

 

44 minutes ago, monoccular said:

....for a variety of reasons, injury being at least part of their limitations.  

When any player suffers a succession of injuries,  or a serious injury, especially early in their careers, one cannot really tell just what level they could have reached without that injury.  Molan is in my view a classic example: berated by many here as a "dud", he never got a chance to show anyone just what he could (or could not) do.  

Garland and Grimes both had numerous opportunities to show their talents

they weren't good enough

Garland's best was 2011 to 2013 and that was very, very good.  He read the play well, attacked at the right times and had the Dustin Fletcher style 'go-go-gadget arms.'  Unlike most on our list, his peak years were under Bailey and Neeld.  We do tend to forget that he has also had some pretty serious foot and ankle injuries to overcome in his career, which may have inhibited his development.

His best football easily gets him a spot in our back six, but alas, we haven't seen that for a few years now.  Strangely enough, he hasn't thrived under Roos like others have and at this stage I don't see a place for him unless there is a big turn around in form.  I hope he does; I have a very soft spot for Garland along with Trengove as they were players who stood up through the tough years and now look like they won't be able to be part of the good ones.  Like Grimes, none of Garland's issues on field stem from lack of effort or passion. 

Yep, as the wizard up forward.

Even discussing it feels like flogging a dead horse.

Sadly for Col I'd say he's behind quite a few names, I can't see him being a regular name on the team sheet. 

That said there's serious competition for spots this year so he can only control one thing: himself. If he plays well at Casey and the others don't maintain their form then he's got every opportunity as anybody else.