Of course it is, and some of it is probably false as well, but it's there, the damage is done.

We can't judge him on one incident, but he's been at the club for 4 seasons, and this is his third offence. While maybe not as serious as the other two (especially the girlfriend incident), it paints a very unpleasant picture. Whether the picture tells the whole story or not, is irrelevant. Reputations take years to build, and only seconds to destroy. Sylvia's behaviour in the past has put the MFC in a bad position with the AFL, the general public, sponsors and members.

And besides, at 21 you'd expect him to know his alcohol limit and have the smarts to carefully select his crowd.

Agree. Essendon players can do it and it has no real impact, because the brand is big enough to sustain the damage. We aren't. That aside my major concern is supposedly professional footballers who continually engage in activities that are prejudicial to performance. Alcohol is widely known to impact of fitness and recovery. I'm certainly not saying they shouldn't be able to have a couple of quiet beers, but really their managers should be doing the right thing by them and sitting them down and asking what sort of reputation do they want when they retire.... is it enough to have played maybe a hundred odd games at a couple of clubs?

Reliable judges tell me that Col will be some sort of player when he gets a full preseason under his belt.... that aside I'd rather see him working his butt off like other players doing everything in his power to be the best he can be rather than hitting the sauce to the point of stupidity.

I think everyone is over-reacting just a tad. I saw the entire Melbourne team at Fix nightclub at Docklands on the weekend QUICK lets suspend all of them. Col is 21 and entitled to live his life like a normal man of that age. You never hear about the McDonald's and the Brown's being out on the weekend, because they are 30 and have families. Think about it.

Thats why we dont win flags.

OK so if Col was out and got himself in trouble, who is our policeman who would be taking Col aside this week and telling him to ‘pull his head in’?

Do we have a policeman? My expectation is that we don’t have one or Neita is left to do it all.

Yeah, and I think Brock also said at the time that they ate meat pies and drank cans for brekky and that he had to come back and go on a strict diet for a month to get back to normal!! LOL

They live a different life the ol' country boys - I guess it's bred into alot of them!

Seriously though - and I'm not speculating about this current "incident" as I don't know much about it - I can't see why if afl players want to get smashed they can't just stay home and get a few mates around for a barbie like the rest of us.

Because they like going out chasing tale.

Because they like going out chasing tale.

I guess... Dunno about the rest of you girls but I just LOVE guys who are off their heads , picking fights and acting the hero...um, wait, I've actually just summed up every guy I went out with up until I was 21!!

He'll grow out of it - either (hopefully) by choice - and now - or he'll have to be made to, which will be pretty embarrassing for him.

As long as he doesn't do a darren hayes and get arrested!!

storm in a tea cup. if the club thinks it's an issue, and if his teammates think it's an issue, i trust them to be able to deal with it. they'd know him better than we do

Thats why we dont win flags.

Neitz had a function there in honour of his 300th game actually.

I dont have a problem with col or any other player who wants to have a drink and relax, but i dont want them arrested or even act stupid or say they cant remember anything