stevethemanjordan

I believe so C&B.

I remember it also. Perhaps he was...

'Yze magic' during the Judd trade was some of the best demonland reading I can remember.. Quality stuff.

Agree, Jack.Whilst I'm aware of how training is completely different to a game and that many individuals can look like a million dollars on the track, I still firmly believe there'll be a massive improvement from our team this year. I can understand why many supporters are not so confident, (mainly based on past false hope). However the fact remains, previous coaches didn't identify that it was our midfield that was at the crux of it all. Plenty of other excuses were made. A handful being not enough experience or games which means lack of fitness, smaller bodies, frail minds, no confidence or trust in each other. Poor drafts. It's all a big snowball effect really. And when you've got a midfield where two of your most senior players in Moloney and Sylvia are not driven to be the best players they can be, it just adds to the midfield issue. Our forward line and backline are pretty strong. So there's no worry there for the moment and providing everyone stays on the park for the majority of the year. Look at who we've brought into the midfield this year. Not only is there quality. There is now depth. Cross, Vince, Michie, Tyson. Two experienced mids with elite work rate (unlike Sylvia or Moloney) and smart footy brains. (Also unlike Sylvia and Moloney). Tyson who I'm absolutely confident will be our best mid within 4 years. Look at his skill set. Michie who whilst has only played one game, can play. Will provide great support as he plays with intensity, works hard and has good skills. It doesn't matter as much that the latter two haven't played much AFL. They can both play and will have support unlike Trengove and Toumpas in their first years. Add those four to a midfield of regulars being Jones, Trengove, Viney, Watts and Toumpas and you can see there is a great mixture of experience, talent and depth. All of those players are hard working, (Watts maybe still getting the hang of it), skilled and smart. It's an immediate upgrade on Matt Jones, McKenzie, Bail, Evans, Nicho etc. And then you've got the new draftees, Salem, Hunt and an immature Barry to learn and develop at Casey for the year, only to play once their form and desire warrants it. What a position to be in. This is a monumental change. And without having mentioned the new coaches or the game plan, it's a huge midfield upgrade and will completely change the dynamic. I have no doubt we may be a bit shaky perhaps early on in these practice games. But when we click, it will completely change the psyche of every player and it will turn into a positive snowball effect. All we need is that sniff. I can feel it coming.

You'd think it would be earlier than that if he supposedly only 'strained' his hammy and the club are being extra cautious.3-4 weeks is a serious hamstring injury so I'd be very surprised if that were the case. As Yokozuna has said, they're being extra cautious with both. Which is a good thing. They'll both be right by the start of the season. Appreciate the reports once again.

I'm not so sure about that logic..

You make some really outlandish predictions.

The seriousness of the injury should have little to do with his reaction. How many times have we seen players go down with what looks to be a seriously bad injury only to see them come back on the next quarter? Conversely, a close friend of mine tore his ACL, PCL and meniscus which is one of the more severe knee injuries and he was only limping. We don't know. We can only pray. And pray I will.

Footy is a game of repeat efforts. 'Gut running' is the name that is talked about so often with players. An ability to produce high intensity efforts many times over during the course of a game. No amount of sprints or 3km time trials can emulate the fitness required to play the game because you are doing so many other things as a player and using many other components of fitness. Which is clearly why we are seeing a lot of the running done in game simulation drills. Because it's football specific running. Directional running. And running whilst performing many other movements like kicking, marking, blocking, tackling, bending etc. 300 m repeat sprints are the most relevant isolated running still as well as the 3 km time trial. During games these two are interchangeable. The ability of a player to have the engine to run at a solid pace all day and the ability to produce high intensity repeat efforts are what today's midfielders need. Blease is quick over short distances but it's his endurance and repeat efforts that need work. Blease would have dominated his junior years because of his pace and the fact that he would have had more time to recover during efforts on smaller grounds and because it's not AFL. For him it's about getting his body right and developing an appetite to work a lot harder as it is for many of our players. Hard two way running all day is the running required to play the game.

And while we're at it we should also draft Craig Motram. He'd be a great addition to the midfield because of his running ability.

Toumpas will be a very consistent performer for a long time for the dees, if not a star... Of that I'm convinced.

Fair enough. It's your opinion. I gotta say I disagree though. He has so many great attributes. Imagine if he had an attitude like Jones? Just wanted to work his arse off to get the best out of himself? You'd see a completely different player. Happens all the time. McKenzie is the exact opposite to Sylvia, I don't know why we're comparing them. ? The reason he made AFL is because of how hard he's driven himself. But he wasn't gifted with many attributes for AFL and he'll never improve much. Jones is different again. The key is to obviously draft players with both sides. Character and footy related skills and attributes. That's when you unearth the stars.

Saty, I want to try and be civil with you. You've put words in my mouth. I said that possessing a certain mindset has nothing to do with pre-seasons.. It's really so simpe. Sylvia has never had the right frame of mind or understanding of what it takes to get the best out of yourself. Never. He's been far too distracted about the many other things that come with being an AFL footballer. Whilst there may be slight contributing factors as to why he didn't reach his full potential, it is simply absurd to blame it solely on one of the following: - Injury prone - lack of leadership and guidance at the club - poor team performance - bad coaching - other* If Sylvia possessed a similar character and approach to the game as Nathan Jones or even our first year players Jack Viney and Jimmy Toumpas, we'd have seen a great deal more output from Col, and that my good friend, is a fact. You are saying he didn't get a 'good run at it' which is why he didn't reach his full potential. I am saying whilst that didn't help, it's absolutely got nothing to do with having the right character and personality to drive yourself to be the best. You see?

That's an answer for you also Saty. Its just a non-argument.

And there it is.. The injury card. There is a significant and obvious difference in their desire and hunger to become the best players they can. And that has absolutely nothing to do with pre-seasons.

Therefore, much of it is based on the individual. And as we can see nowadays with drafts. Strong clubs value players and their 'capacity to think' just as highly as football related skills etc. Character is extremely important.

It's to do with their capacity to 'think'. Which is born from their environment pre-draft. Family, peers, what they were exposed to.. etc etc. Of course being at the MFC during that period didn't help any individual. But it's interesting that Jones has come on after nearly a decade of playing for us, whereas Sylvia absolutely hasn't.

So explain Jones' development during the pretty much the same period? He went through the same coaching changes etc. Sylvia is two years older. What's the dealio?

I disagree, but we'll soon find out I guess!

People throwing around the word service as if he donated 10 years of his precious life to help our club. Haha.

But in most other facets of the game, he is useless... So what do we do?

Full pre-season, three quarters of a pre-season, half a pre-season... It's not going to change the fact that he had little ticker. The 'no pre-season' card has been used far too often for Col. Why is it that Jones has become the player he is today and Col is where he is at? Don't tell me it's because Sylvia has never had a pre-season. Of course he has. He may have battled injuries. But so have many players. Look at Cotchin. An emense talent, but with the heart and desire to work and play hard. There's the difference. The point is, Col is his own problem. I don't wish him good or bad luck. He never did anything to stand up for the club unlike Jones even though he is a year or two older. He has a limited capacity to think, prefers night clubs over training and bicep curls over working on bettering himself as a footballer. Wake the fark up.

In what capacity was he a good servant? He was paid top dollar for his potential and look at where he is? B&F finishes? Leadership group? Improvement? Work ethic? You can associate none of these words to Sylvia. Compare him to Jones. They are light-years apart. And please stop using the word 'hero' on Internet forums.

I suggest you cut the emotional attachment you clearly have for Col and look at the broader picture. The MFC and what it stands for. It seems mediocrity is what you've both learnt to accept.

Lols at anyone who think we've lost out in losing Sylvia whilst gaining Vince. I don't give a [censored] about comparitive numbers between the two next year. Sylvia was a cancer to our young list. Didn't work hard which is why he's training alone at Freo. Didn't provide any leadership. Did absolutely nothing except work on his biceps in the gym. The guy is a pea brain. Vince may have a bit of spunk about him, but at least he's an elite trainer, fit, works hard and most importantly, has played consistent football in the past. Of course we've won out on that one. It's not even an argument.