Senior 20. Colin Garland

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I think it's fair to say Garland's been one of our most consistent performers this year, but despite my fawning over him he's been far from perfect. There are still many times when he gets the ball and he makes a poor decision, some of them costly. Yet it's difficult to judge these too harshly, often he's under a lot of pressure and sometimes his teammates up the field do him no favours by not presenting well.

Now with Dawes back in the side I don't really think we need to throw Col up forward, I think he's far too important down back and when him and Frawley are working well they do a good job of negating the influence of opposition forward lines. Case in point on the weekend, Richmond missed chances but if you review the game quite a few of these were either long shots or shots from tougher angles. In the end though we were outscored by a better side and there were still too many opportunities for Richmond forwards. Dustin Martin in particular really threw a spanner in the works down there.

I also think that despite our horrific record with kick-ins, generally our defence does a good job of mopping up and clearing out when a ball comes off hands from a pack situation. These days it seems to be when we get to half-back/wing that our problems begin. Far too many times on the weekend we turned the ball over in the middle of the ground, putting heaps of strain on the defence.

I'd be interested to know who does the majority of directing down in the backline. It always appears to me that Frawley generally directs traffic but I think Garland, especially now with his vice-captain role, is an important leader down there. I'm sure newer guys like McDonald, Strauss and Terlich appreciate having some 'older' heads around. Might be off the mark but Garland appears to me to be a 'follow my example' kind of leader.

I mentioned at the start of the year that it was surprising that Garland hasn't played 100 games, but barring injury I'd be surprised if he didn't reach that milestone this year. He should play every game this season. In reality he should be a 200 game player for us by the end of his career and if he keeps up his current workrate he'll be well deserving of that achievement.

EDIT: Also worth mentioning that he's currently second in the 426 voting, which is generally a fairly good indicator of the Bluey. It's generally difficult for defenders to get votes in individual awards (especially ones as illustrious as the 426) so kudos to Col for his endeavor.

TL;DR - In one of the bleaker years in MFC history, Garland can hold his head high.
 
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of Nathan Jones winning the coveted 426 (twice is enough).
Let's rort the system so royally that they'll be forced to change voting procedures next year.

To save time, just copy and paste the below:

12 - Garland.

Agreed? Good.
 

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Was just about to come in here n toast this guy, beaten to it

His last few weeks Have been great, one if the few players down back giving us a bit of everything thats required out of an afl backman. very underrated at the moment.
 
Another good game from Col, and he's getting some love for it.

If we weren't so diabolical he might have even been in contention for an AA spot :rainbow:
 
I'm over the Garland love. I liked Garland before he was cool - these days he is far too mainstream.
You can find me over in the Troy Davis thread.

JK He's awesome.
 
d33my said:
I'm over the Garland love. I liked Garland before he was cool - these days he is far too mainstream.
You can find me over in the Troy Davis thread.

JK He's awesome.
Click to expand...

Get out of my thread.
 
Col Garland Round 14 (Pictorial Review and action sequence)









 
Garland generally gets a generous applause from the member's wing any time he goes anywhere near the ball these days.

I think he played on McGlynn yesterday. Took 8 marks and 8 tackles, while McGlynn didn't kick a goal.
 
Didn't see the game yesterday but from all reports Garland was an honest battler for us on a horrible day. Although he's been great this season I don't think we should underestimate the presence of Frawley and McDonald back there...it really is a handy back three and hopefully when our midfield is sorted it will be very hard to score against us.
 
crossed-fingers.jpg
 

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Didn't see the game, can't objectively comment (can I ever?). Can't have played amazingly though. 13 disposals, 4 marks, 3 tackles.

Is anyone still out there?
 
I haven't seen as many games lately as I would have liked but from highlights/general commentary he's still solid without being outstanding. Let's hope in a better team he becomes an even better defender. Let's face it, if you can look good defending in this team, you're doing alright.
 
I would say he's been playing injured the last few weeks, has looked a bit proppy on his ankle especially late in games - noticed it against GC and Fremantle. Good on him for pushing through in the absence of Frawley.

Anyway, 100th game for Col this week. A great achievement for him. Says here that the club is winning back the trust of the players. :S

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-08-22/melbourne-winning-back-trust-garland
 
Yeah, I just saw that ... not what you want to hear, but it's good for us to hear I think.

Gives us a bit of a feel for struggles maybe.
 
Fair to say that Col stepped up and had a great year in a tough season. The fact he came second in the Bluey is a great achievement, and also nice to see his leadership qualities rewarded with the vice-captaincy and the Barassi award at the BnF.

Also great to see him get the 100 games - if we come on like expected under Roos he'll be around the much talked about 150 mark in a few years and should be a key part of our back six.

Interesting to see what Roos makes of him - there have been hints of leadership change ups etc, but it would be hard to see Roos taking the VC off him.
 
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