As this article explains - Colin Garland has headed back to Tas for personal reasons.

I don't really care for the AFLW competition, nor have I met Colin Garland, but jeez, something in me feels rather rather sad about him leaving the football club- even though everything is always transitory. Always seemed like a lovely bloke and really insightful.

Hope all goes well for him in the future, whatever that may look like.

Edited May 8, 20186 yr by Grapeviney

There is an article in The Mercury but I can't get behind the pay wall.  A snippet says:   "AFTER 10 years and 141 games at AFL club Melbourne, one of North Hobarts favourite sons, Colin Garland, could make his return for the Demons in the TSL against Lauderdale at North Hobart Oval on Saturday".

My favourite Col moment was when he played forward and kicked a few goals which gave us a win against Ess and then jumped into Neeld's arms with joy when the siren went.  2012 was it?

My favourite but poignant comment from him was when Frawley won a premiership medal and Col was asked what he thought.  Col's response was something like 'it wouldn't mean much if it wasn't with Melbourne.'  That says it all about the type of person he is.

Sadly another player who gave his all but perhaps was too scarred from our abysmal years to make the transition when Roos joined.  Glad the club gave him the chance to try coaching before leaving entirely.

Wish him well and glad his local side is also a Demon outfit!

There was me getting my hopes up....

30 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Sadly another player who gave his all but perhaps was too scarred from our abysmal years to make the transition when Roos joined.  Glad the club gave him the chance to try coaching before leaving entirely.

Wish him well and glad his local side is also a Demon outfit!

Agree with the love, but I never felt like he was scarred, just injured, I thought he coped with Neeld times quite well, as he was not really a millenial, must be a Tassie thing ... 

Number 1 on the invite list when we make a GF (assuming he is still alive), if for no other reason than the burn on Frawley 

I love Garland for how much he loves Melbourne, but I feel he was one of those Paul Roos talked of when he said we were still "Scarred."

One of the few players to improve under Neeld, his 2013 was excellent. While his cameo vs Essendon was certainly memorable his best game was against the Hawks that year, they did us by 90 something points but he kept Buddy to a solitary major.

I have a soft spot for many defenders this club put on the paddock over the last 10 to 15 years.

A S#$t job watching the ball coming in over and over again with no pressure and a sore neck watching it sail over your head for another goal way too often.

Can't blame Dunn and Frawley for going elsewhere but all the best to Col.

Hope he's there when we lift the cup.

 

I heard on VFL report tonight that Col garland has returned to Tassie for personal reasons and will not coach the Casey VFLW team. As a long time servant of the club I hope that everything is ok with Colin.

It was in the local paper here the other day that he returned for the start of the local season but missed the start of the year with injury.

I think it mentioned something about the coaching of the AFLW team, but don't think it said he had given it away but it wouldn't surprise me.

Colin has been planning on his return home to play for his junior club North Hobart (Demons) for a long time now. Pretty sure he owns a local pub with his brother and plans on coaching the Demons when the position is vacant.

Here is the article for anyone with a News corp pass.

https://myaccount.news.com.au/sites/themercury/subscribe.html?sourceCode=TMWEB_MRE170_a_GGL&mode=premium&dest=http://www.themercury.com.au/sport/afl/colin-garland-returns-to-where-it-all-began/news-story/95d0c2e45fe12fb9e01cae69104c379b&memtype=registered#command-form

I've always loved Garlo and something doesn't smell right about this !

2 hours ago, puntkick said:

I've always loved Garlo and something doesn't smell right about this !

Nothing to smell most players go home to play at a local level when they still have games in their body's.

I like Col as he genuinely cared about the joint. He always looked half baked/looked like he had just woken up when photographed but he was a good soldier in trying times.

Sadly, he was part of that cohort that came about after Neale was sacked that really knew nothing but consistent chaos. He, and more than a dozen others, had a promising career ruined because of the mismanagement of the club.

As much as many complain about this rebuild being a potential false dawn, the good thing is that at least we can put it down to matters that occur on the field/in the coach's box. Col and many of his peers never had a chance to succeed even before they took the field. 

While he won't have a day to day role at the club, I'm sure it will remain in his heart.

 

14 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

There is an article in The Mercury but I can't get behind the pay wall.  A snippet says:   "AFTER 10 years and 141 games at AFL club Melbourne, one of North Hobarts favourite sons, Colin Garland, could make his return for the Demons in the TSL against Lauderdale at North Hobart Oval on Saturday".

My favourite Col moment was when he played forward and kicked a few goals which gave us a win against Ess and then jumped into Neeld's arms with joy when the siren went.  2012 was it?

My favourite but poignant comment from him was when Frawley won a premiership medal and Col was asked what he thought.  Col's response was something like 'it wouldn't mean much if it wasn't with Melbourne.'  That says it all about the type of person he is.

Sadly another player who gave his all but perhaps was too scarred from our abysmal years to make the transition when Roos joined.  Glad the club gave him the chance to try coaching before leaving entirely.

Wish him well and glad his local side is also a Demon outfit!

One thing about the above that I've always wondered, but certain it was never brought up on here, and it's definitely at the risk of derailing this thread, but given how Col was playing a big part in us winning that game, what TF was he doing on the bench that late in the last quarter?  He was white hot in that last quarter, yet when the game was in the balance, he was on the [censored] bench.

1 hour ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

I like Col as he genuinely cared about the joint. He always looked half baked/looked like he had just woken up when photographed but he was a good soldier in trying times.

Sadly, he was part of that cohort that came about after Neale was sacked that really knew nothing but consistent chaos. He, and more than a dozen others, had a promising career ruined because of the mismanagement of the club.

As much as many complain about this rebuild being a potential false dawn, the good thing is that at least we can put it down to matters that occur on the field/in the coach's box. Col and many of his peers never had a chance to succeed even before they took the field. 

While he won't have a day to day role at the club, I'm sure it will remain in his heart.

 

so so true

I recall reading that as a player he was a genuine student of the game with aspirations to coach. I have no idea what those personal reasons might be that has seen him go back to Tassie, but if he still has a passion to coach or be a football administrator, Tassie could do a lot worse than make use of his skills.

The learnings he gets there may help him in the longer path that all retired footballers have to take.