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Well past my student days but I know we have a few teachers on here and I remember some sage advice that many have posted over the years. My advice.. Do your best.. Don't stress and remember to take some time away from the books to clear the mind. Throw a basket ball, go for a run or just get away. Not sure that computer games serve the same aim but nothing wrong with a couple of half hour stints if that floats the boat. Perhaps minimise the social media as it may just leads to a communal worry fest or similar. But most of all remember that in no way does your VCE determine the rest of your life. You do. Good Luck and Go Dees

I am a relative of Colin and am shocked and saddened by his passing, Life just isn't fair sometimes. Just in relation to the origins of the name, It is widely believed to be of Portuguese origin. De Silva, De Sylva are some of the derivatives. My Great Grandfather, who would also be a lineal ancestor of Colin was from the upper north east of the USA around Boston Massachusetts. Regards. GS.

Once In A Lifetime player. Will be burning down the house next year.

The drip feed of the fixture including the hints as to who will play when (I see North are now confirmed for Good Friday against either Essendon or Richmond) is so amusing. This desire of the AFL to occupy the entire media space and more interestingly the willingness of the media to lap it up is a marketer's dream. Anyone else feel that it is just getting too over the top?

Nick Riewoldt.

Constable Thomas Lonigan murdered by Ned Kelly at Stringybark Creek. Max Gawn in a past life.

I’m just waiting for a mate!

Bela Lugosi, the 1930's actor that played Dracula and our very own Sammy Weideman.

Not sure I want to read the comments about what he could/should have been, nor do I need to know about his frailties, as though we are all who we should be, as though we all overcome our frailties. His teammates loved him, the kids he visited in hospital, his family and the people he spent so much time caring about loved him. I loved watching him, I loved the fact he gave his life his best shot, I feel so sad that he's gone.

Thank you very much. Yes Col always was on for a chat and the first to put up his hand to help out. I think if you drill down we were something like 2nd cousins but were always aware of each other and always had a chat about the footy. He will be missed. Thanks again. Greg Sylvia.

Thanks for the family background, DS. Condolences to you and the rest of the Sylvia family. So tragic! Just hope you are little heartened at the knowledge that Dees fans have very fond memories of that cheeky grin, the warm hearted reaching out to the ill and needy and, of course, those occasions when he lit up the "G" in the red & blue!

Sam Frost Richie Cunningham

Travis Auld: “We want to bolster Friday nights, we want to make sure that Thursday and Fridays are really strong that those feature events are there.” "We want to reward teams that have been playing really good football...West Coast and Collingwood are the two obvious ones but Melbourne and Essendon look quite exciting after trade period...So we want to feature them in the right spots as often as we can.” Melbourne and Essendon set to take centre stage Thursday and Friday nights here we come!! Hopefully a few are home games at the G as better for our sponsors and members!

More than a couple of seasons in most cases. sometimes a decade. Lets look at Judd v Kennedy and Masten. carlton clearly happy first couple of years and streets ahead. Kennedy comes good and looks like Carlton in front but the gaps is closing. Weagles lose a grands final, Kennedy poor. Well Carlton probably won that deal right ? then Judd has to retire early, and now a few years later Kennedy is pivotal in a premiership win. Weagles win the trade in my opinion. And it only took 11 years to work it out !!

Grief does have a way of uniting us all. And its reminder that much of our daily life is insignificant and unimportant. And its a tribute to Colin that he was loved by so many. That is his legacy.

GIving up these games in the NT is still [censored] me off. It’s always against an SA and WA side who gain more from playing there than we do, other than financially. The support for both sides is always far greater. It also makes it a 50:50 scenario, which would otherwise favour us at The G. When will we drop this ?

I was curious about the origin of the surname Sylvia so looked it up. It's apparently Old English but most interestingly (and pleasing) was that Colin is named in the article as one of the "Contemporary Notables of the Name Sylvia (post 1700)".

Loved Col right from day dot the moment he walked through the door because he was a true blue country kid like myself who loved a beer, women, the punt, and footy on a weekends. Didn't take life seriously at all and just lived and had fun at the same time. On football ability he was by far the most gifted and prodigious talent i have ever seen don the red and blue, even to this day. I went to that Hawthorn game back in 2009 where he had 37 disposals and kicked 4 goals and thought that genuine star inside of him was ready to explode. He just had it all.. speed, power, strength, a booming kick (kicked a huge goal against carlton on his left foot outside of 50 one day mind you..) ariel ability and a body of a greek god who i was very envious of because how ridiculously chiselled he was! Unfortunately we never saw that potential talent that he teased us with, but boy the days he was on he could seriously light up the MCG and bring joys and smiles to Melbourne supporters during dark times. To Cols family, my thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.. i hope one day you find peace knowing Col lived life to the fullest and that cheeky smile touched many heart who came close to him. Thank you for making us smile during those 157 game career. Rip mate.

What a player this guy could have been. had a few issues outside of footy but I remember a couple of years ago we got smashed and my little boy was sitting up on level two looking all sad. Colin came up to him and said don’t worry little man, better days are coming and gave him a hug. My boy had no clue who he was but I told him about Colin and that he use to play for the Dees. Was lovely

Good luck to all Uni Students too, especially trying to get a job afterwards.

Melbourne’s number 9 Summer of 69

My Maddy will be starting soon! All the best to student and family!

Leaderboard in the comp 4 - JV7, Go the Biff, Dr. Gonzo, Clintosaurus, Dappa Dan 3 - titan_uranus, layzie, Gorgoroth, Macca, 2 - Dee Zephyr, DeeSpencer 0 - Everyone else Approximates 11-2 Clintosaurus, Dappa Dan 6-1 Go the Biff, Gorgoroth 7-1 Dr Gonzo, JV7, titan_uranus 8-1 layzie 10-1 Dee Zephyr 12-1 DeeSpencer 15-1 DemonDave, Macca * Always gamble responsibly

I hope attitudes are changing to the end of VCE exams. The ridiculous pressure that is placed on students does impact on families and the mental health of students and those around them. My VCE had absolutely no correlation with my career. I went to an APS school and a lot of people I know simply got jobs (mostly in real estate) as a result of who they knew or did a two week course at TAFE that got them into their industry (mostly the ridiculously unregulated and high paying real estate industry). The pressure and stress is in some ways a good precursor to life in the real world, but 13 years ago when I did it, it was fail VCE and you'll be living on the streets. As long as you're passionate about what you do, you'll work hard and you'll do well in life. That's the key learning for mine.

So who can we rule out being available at 23? Excluding academy players because their teams picks to match come after 23 I'd say the following names appear too consistently to fall to 23 outside of a dramatic fall: The top names (7): Walsh, Lukosius, Rankine, Rozee, B Smith, M. King, B King The consistent mid first rounders (4): Caldwell, Hately, Clarke, Collier-Dawkins After that the next best grouping, some of which might be available at 23 (9): Duursma, Stocker, Butters, O'Halloran, Sturt, Taylor, Jones, Hill, McLennan Every year there's 1 or 2 bolters in to the top 20 who aren't talked about by the common media/draft experts as well as a couple who the group think has as top 20 who are actually 35+. Keen draft watchers, are there any of the top 11 I've named who are any chance to fall to 23? And what about the next group or any others, who's likely to be gone before we pick?

Well I hope being a bloody good kick is #4

Penultimate sentence says it all. Like young footballers sometimes those that shine early fade and the slow developers emerge and blossom down the track and can be the most interesting. But to the parents of VCE students, good luck and don't worry. Its more important what your kids are doing at 30 not 18.

So Collingwood and Melbourne wanted to play in the first game of the season, the AFL release the first round fixture and THEN look at the wish list.

Jack. In 20 years...

A starving man needs to eat. I'm not knocking back a kale salad if I'm really really hungry. Wait a sec ....

Yep. It's true of the whole team as well. I expect in the draft we will target players with excellent disposal skills, with some pace who can play a link, outside role. Obviously don't grow on trees so the recruiting team will have to show their talent spotting skills again. Maynard fits the goody mould, he's a Melbourne person. Hard at it, fierce, team first and super competitive. But he does indeed lack polish, specifically with his kicking. He's not overly quick either. You'd think he is competing with Oliver, Brayshaw and viney as an inside mid. So up against it. But like the selection of smith goody has shown a preparedness to back such players in so he will get his chance.

Don't think they have to have the post Anzac games this year as there will be a minimum 8/9 day break for us and the Tigers, although they may look to a Friday night Pies v Tiger or Dees vs Bombers the post Anzac round. With us and Tigers playing on Anzac eve it would make more sense(which the AFL fixturing never uses) to have one of us and the Tigers playing Good Friday eve and one on Good Friday.

I Tragic is a word used far too freely in footy parlance (missed a goal, lost a close game, lost a close GF) but this brings it into perspective. Unfortunately too many young & ex Demons have died far too young. Broadbridge, Flower, Stynes, Wight, Sylvia to name a few. Those are tragic.

Rest in peace. Gone far too soon. Shocking to hear. So sad for those close to him. It is at moments like these when I realise the truth of the saying "Never complain about growing old. Not everyone gets the chance".

I have already posted "not available" on my work roster for this game. First time i will have seen my team play where i live. I will take both of my Canon DSLR's and possibly a video camera as well to get as many shots as possible, particularly of any newbies who play. Best news so far this off-season.

Are people really disturbed that we are playing round 1 at home on a Saturday afternoon?? Perhaps they would prefer Hawthorn's twilight game in SA, North's Sunday evening game over in the West or the Saint's 1.10 pm game against Gold Coast on a Sunday lunch time? There's no pleasing some people.

The latest from Knighmare - phantom draft who I usually have a lot of time for but I don’t believe he’s thought this out very well - AFL Phantom Draft: Rounds 1, 2 His picks for Melbourne are:- 23. Melbourne Ned McHenry (VIC) Height, Weight: 176cm, 71kg Profile: McHenry is this year's premier forward pressure specialist, leading the Under-18 Championships in tackles and pressure acts as a small forward. An elite endurance athlete, McHenry can also push up the wings. 28. Melbourne Sydney Stack (WA) Height, Weight: 177cm, 72kg Profile: One of this draft's most exciting and impactful players. A prolific ball-winner and tackler who hits the ball at speed and accelerates away. As well as those profiles read, I can’t see us taking two smalls with these picks given that we have Charlie Spargo, Jeff Garlett and Jay Kennedy Harris and will at least be considering taking Toby Bedford further down the line in the draft as a NGA player. Here is his assessment of Bedford ~ Melbourne *bid on Bedford likely to come 30-50 Toby Bedford (VIC - Melbourne Next Generation Academy) Height, Weight: 176cm, 65kg Profile: Line breaker who often runs the ball 30m at speed before disposing of the ball. Prolific tackler with his application of forward pressure among the best in the draft. Knightmare would therefore have us picking three players between 172 & 176cm. with our first three draft selections. I don’t think so.

Fraser Turner is very good. Very good. I had him around 32-35 but he appeals as a pacy outside wingman. Others however preferred at 23 & 28.

Do we know when they will announce the fixture? i have to say i love getting that first look at the fixture. Its a great chance to look into the future and see what days what life will revolve around!

Surely we’d pick the best available players at 23 and 28, and if they happen to be a”fast outside mid and another tall” then great. But no use choosing them if they are not the best available IMO

A few things because one size doesn't fit all and not everything is black and white. The signs were there against the Hawks that we were starting to look fatigued Don't underestimate how much the previous back to back 4 must win elimination games we had effected our players emotionally. We were on a knifes edge coming in against the Eagles. They should have been done week 1 at home against the Pies and without the week off Kennedy would have been in trouble, but somehow they dug out a win. Good luck to them they hung in and the Pies ran out of legs In the prelim we started nervously and bang it was almost gone. Players come out after quarter time in their shells and bang bang two quick goals and that is it, the mountain is to high and we were officially cooked. We had the weaknesses down back going in which were magnified by us getting smashed at the clearances allowing them easy delivery. I like our game style it stands up but needs some tweaks and some greater outside polish. We saw in the later part of the season much improved delivery inside 50 and cohesion moving forward in waves with quick ball movement. Not finishing top 4 cost us dearly, I honestly believe with the build up and emotion we brought into week 1 of the finals that we would have beaten any side in front of us, but we shall never know The ball moves quicker than any player will and you never look slow controlling the game. Take the prelim out of it and I seen a lot to be pleased with and a lot, which I have seen in previous contenders just before they hit their straps. Lewis has been great for us as was Bernie but the baton started to be passed this season with many of the younger players becoming on field leaders and taking the game by the neck. I expect Lewis will be depth come mid 2019 and when we get the 80-100game mark into our nucleus we will see flexibility in our side, we will have the combative game style but we will see players controlling and taking the sting out of games regularly. The biggest hurdle we face next season is for the player group to not believe in natural progression, if we do we will be caught out. We were the hunted in the Prelim and didn't deal with it. We must work hard from the outset, set standards in workrate, preparation, discipline and hardness. We have the cattle, we have the gamestyle and are so close now but nothing comes easy no matter how good you are