Why did Colbert leave

[Jef Costello]

Whoops. My spelling lobe took over for a second.

Colbert has never publicly put up the reasons for his leaving, but the general suggestion amongst level headed Geelong people (I know you'll salivate at the opportunity to rip the p*ss out of that statement )...

is that the old team of the 90's was fading out. The team was pretty clicky as far as who was "in" and who was "out". Gary Ayres (the master coach ) had a forceful way of bringing change, and appointing Colbert as captain was one of those changes. This put out the nose of several, longer serving players who couldn't hack the fact that their time was coming to an end.

99 was a dog of a year. The board got replaced and Franky the Godfather arrived an Ayres was put on notice... no new contract discussions until the end of the year (read - "You've screwed things up for a while now, so you've got a handful of games to set the ship right or you're out")... Ayres responded with his typical maturity and chucked the toys out of the cot.

With a fair bit of turmoil about the place, his chief supporter in Ayres gone, feeling no support from fellow senior players, and the threat of a club ending debt hanging over the place... Colbert cut and run.

Can you blame him? Guess not. Even if he stayed he wouldn't have lasted until the Premiership and he wouldn't have made that much of a difference if he did. In the end he chose his target club poorly. He should have picked Essendon, Brisbane or Collingwood...

Thread should have ended with this post really .

l don;t know the detailed ins and outs and l was gutted when he left as it meant pulling his number off my jumper. And l thought he was a f....ing c... for walking out on us. But ultimately, and with reflection, l have always respected him as a terrific footballer and seems as though he was of good character too when you see him through those North days. l think there was no doubt we lost our way in between generations. l wish he had handled it differently, that the senior players had dealt with it better etc because l think he could have been a great player and leader for the club.

But no need to worry too much as it has all worked out ok in the end .