COLIN Sylvia grasps his dislocated shoulder and prepares for the impact. He is in the changerooms at Merbein’s Kenny Park, in a world of pain.
Somewhere outside, a football game is being played and Sylvia wants to be back out there.
He throws his shoulder against the changeroom brick wall, instantly falling to the ground.
He’s on his knees in agony, then picks himself up.
He throws his shoulder against the wall a second time, again falling to the ground.
On his knees in agony, he then picks himself up.
He throws his shoulder against the wall a third time, and at this point Merbein president Toney Hurley pleads with him – it’s not worth it, he urges.
But the third time works like a charm.
“Tape it up, I’m right, it’s popped back in,” Sylvia tells Hurley, before returning to the field and playing out the game against Imperials.
It was 2015 and Sylvia’s first game for Merbein as an ex-AFL player, the occasion drawing a massive crowd – about 10 times the usual gate for a home game.
He simply didn’t want to let anyone down.
That was how Hurley remembered Sylvia yesterday.
“Just his mental toughness, to be able to do that,” Hurley said.
“(I remember) how he withstood that pain and just did anything to get back on the field and be part of what he promised to do for the club.”
Colin Sylvia remembered by AFL community
Sylvia made his senior football debut for the Magpies at 14.
He played a key role in the club’s drought-breaking premiership under Merv Neagle in 2002.
Then he did the club proud as an AFL footballer.
“Colin will be remembered as one of the best-ever players to come out of our football club,” Hurley said.
“To have such a decorated career, playing over 160 games of AFL football, means the guy was more than a handy footballer.”
Whenever he came back to Kenny Park, he was a hit with the juniors.
“The kids were just in awe of him, he had that aura about him,” Hurley said.
“He had that strut and all the kids used to love it … they all got excited.”
It wasn’t just Merbein’s juniors that Sylvia gave back to.
AFL Sunraysia development manager Trevor Ryan was looking for an ambassador for the region’s new junior academy squads, someone who could give the up-and-coming talent a figure to look up to.
Sylvia, a high-profile Melbourne footballer at the time, bought in fully to what became the Colin Sylvia Squad, training with the players whenever he was back home.
Ryan said he had an ability to bring himself to their level.
“He was fantastic from day one,” Ryan said.
“We took kids to play V/Line Cup games in Melbourne and he took a real interest in that group.
“He took them through the Melbourne Football Club and introduced them to Melbourne coaches and other players on the list and spoke to them and watched them at games.
“The kids loved him.”
Ryan said Sylvia’s AFL career could have nudged 200 games were it not for his injuries at Melbourne.
“I’ve spoken to certain individuals from the Pioneers system over the years and they certainly rate Colin as one of, if not the best, drafted player that’s come out of their system,” he said.
“That’s saying a fair bit when you’ve got the Dustin Martins and the Joel Selwoods to come out of that region as well.”
This story appears in Tuesday’s Sunraysia Daily, 30/10/2018. To subscribe to our Digital Edition, click here
