Colin Sylvia

DOB: 8 November, 1985
Debut: Round 9, 2004 against Kangaroos at MCG

Games: 121*
Goals: 105*
Career Statistics

From: Bendigo U18, Selection 3, 2003 National Draft

Number: 12 2004-

Honours
Rising Star nominee - Round 9, 2005 vs Carlton
Mark of the Year nominee - Round 6, 2010

Sylvia's last season in the TAC Cup underlined why he was such a highly sought after selection in that year's draft. Despite fighting a two year battle with osteitis pubis he won the Bendigo Pioneers best and fairest, All-Australian selection and a TAC Cup coaches award. He recorded the best standing vertical jump at draft camp, and was in the top ten percent for running vertical jumps.

After beginning his first pre-season a month late, still suffering the effects of his injury, Sylvia debuted in round 9 but was out of the side again until the round 21 loss to Carlton, where he achieved the rare feat of kicking a goal with his first kick in league football - in his second game after failing to rack up a kick in his first match.

Sixteen games in his second year, and seventeen including two finals in 2006 featured flashes of the brilliance which he had promised when drafted but Sylvia found it difficult to stamp his influence on the game and for most of his early career was compared unfavourably to Brock McLean who had been selected two spots after him in the draft. His commitment had been questioned, and in the 2006 pre-season he was involved in an public altercation with his then girlfriend which ended in a court appearance and a $2000 fine from the club.

The 2007 and 2008 seasons continued to frustrate as Sylvia was thrown forward with patchy results and continued to show only glimpses of his true talents in the midfield. He played 16 and 18 games respectively but was far from his side's best in either year, and as the Demons crashed to a wooden spoon he was suddenly in danger of becoming one of the great draft 'busts' of the modern era.

During the 2009 pre-season he was fined $5000 by the club for turning up to training in an 'unfit' state, and it was later revealed that a 2007 session had seen his teammates label Sylvia as the player they trusted the least. From an inauspicious start, 2009 would end up being the breakout season that fans had been waiting almost five years to see. In 17 games he achieved career highs for disposals, goals and tackles, earning his first Brownlow Medal votes along the way. At the end of the year he signed a new two year deal with the club.

Sylvia suffered a broken jaw in a 2010 pre-season match against West Coast courtesy of a hard bump by Eagle Josh Kennedy which caused him to miss the start of the premiership season. He returned to kick a career high five goals in the Round 5 victory over Richmond and despite only playing 15 games for the season - the lowest total since his debut season, not helped by missing three weeks after suffering a blood clot in his toe - improved even further on his performances in '09 to become one of the true superstars of his side.

In 2011 he was alternatively brilliant and frustrating, kicking a single goal in 12 of his 19 matches for the year but also booting bags of 4, 4 and 5 and regularly racking up 20 touches. He saved his best game for last when he had 29 possessions and five goals against Richmond in Round 22, but a striking charge saw him outed for two matches which ended his year.

Despite rumours that he was on Sydney's radar at the end of 2011, Sylvia signed a two years contract extension with the Demons late in the season.

He was named in the International Rules squad for the 2011 home series against Ireland but was dropped after an incident involving Sylvia being the passenger in a car which had an early morning accident. He was fined $5000 and suspended from Round 1, 2012 for breaking team rules.

Lists
Goal with their first kick

Media
"Demons' top pick on the sidelines" - The Age 03/12/2003
"AFL star gets court order on girfriend" - The Age 02/02/2006
"Sylvia confronts his Demons" - Herald Sun 08/10/2010

Links
2003 MFC profile
Wikipedia profile