Fremantle Dockers recruit Colin Sylvia says his best football is yet to come

BOOM Fremantle recruit Colin Sylvia turns a Docker with a bold confession that his best football is yet to come.

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BOOM Fremantle recruit Colin Sylvia turns a Docker with a bold confession that his best football is yet to come.

Sylvia, 27, joins this year’s premiership runners-up as an unrestricted free agent and revealed that Fremantle was his club of choice after careful consideration to end his 10-year stay and 157 games at a strife-torn Melbourne.

The Dockers are also expected to add injury-prone forward Scott Gumbleton to their list for 2014 before the end of this week's AFL trading period.

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Gumbleton will join the Dockers from Essendon in a trade for a third-round draft pick.

Sylvia concedes that it confronts a daunting task to break into an established and defensively disciplined Dockers outfit and must earn respect of his adopted teammates as first-up priority in summer training which Fremantle launch late next month.

Sylvia bluntly confessed that his at times injury-interrupted career has been inconsistent.

“No, I don’t feel like I have reached my potential yet,” he declared.

“So, hopefully that is all ahead of me.

"I think I had a pretty consistent year (in 2013) without any real breakout games but I think playing with a football club like Fremantle, they demand excellence and hopefully they can take me to the next level."

Sylvia signed a three-year deal with Fremantle and is tipped to play predominantly as a high half-forward with regular swings through the powerful Dockers midfield as a vital hard-nut in the Ross Lyon coached unit that will start next season again among leading flag contenders.

Colin Sylvia

A No.3 national draft pick a decade ago, Sylvia will add depth to Fremantle’s on-ball division as well as important scoring potency alongside superstar forward Matthew Pavlich and Chris Mayne, and goal-sharks Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters.

Sylvia also revealed that he joins Fremantle in peak condition after suffering bouts of osteitis pubis early into his AFL days, as well as niggling hamstring and back troubles over the past three seasons.

“My body is actually in the best condition that it has ever been in,” he said.

“It’s better than it was in my first three or four years with osteitis pubis.

“I played a full season last year and only missed three games due to suspension and played every other game.

“My body is in great shape and I feel like I can play for many years yet.”

Sylvia conceded that learning the strict defensive codes and game plan that took Fremantle to the brink of pulling off a miraculous premiership before running into a vastly more finals hardened Hawthorn outfit late last month is a must in his bid to break into the Dockers starting unit.

“I’m happy to get a game anywhere,” he said.

“I’m going to have to study that (game plan)and be educated on the whole thing.

“You only see so much on game day when you watch the way they play.

“They play a great brand of footy, and I’m excited to learn how they play each weekend and learn the game plan and what Ross requires of each player.

“At moment I’m primarily focused on day one of pre-season and working really hard over pre-season to earn my players’ respect, my coach’s respect and everyone involved in the Fremantle Football Club.

“It’s obviously a great team and I team that I admire that I want to play for.

“There is a lot of hard work and it’s the next challenge that I’m really excited about.”