COLIN Sylvia was adamant. It was October 2013, and the new Fremantle Docker fronted up to his first press conference in purple promising big things. After 157 games at Melbourne where flashes of brilliance were often forgotten after months of largely anonymous displays, the 28-year-old insisted that he would be a new man at his new club.

"I don't feel like I've reached my potential yet so that’s all ahead of me," Sylvia said at the time.

"My body is actually in the best condition it's ever been in.

"I'm primarily focused on day one of pre-season and working really hard over the pre-season to earn the players' respect, the coaches' respect and everyone involved in the Fremantle Football Club." 

It was respect he never earned. And on Tuesday, Sylvia's retirement closed the book on a career that promised so much, but never lived up to expectations.

In hindsight, Fremantle's failed experiment was no surprise.

Sylvia's move to Fremantle could have been a marriage made in heaven, but it turned out to be the marriage from hell.

The Dockers were 15 points shy of a premiership in 2013, and Sylvia was an experienced, goalkicking midfielder capable of turning any match with one piece of brilliance.

When Sylvia was recruited from Melbourne as an unrestricted free agent, Fremantle's general manager of player management Brad Lloyd said: "To get Colin Sylvia through free agency was a real plus. He's going to really add to our midfield depth."

Eighteen months later, halfway through a lucrative three-year deal, Sylvia retired by mutual agreement with the club, having played just six games and caused no end of headaches for the club's hierarchy.

Fremantle football operations manager Chris Bond was asked on Tuesday, following the announcement of Sylvia's retirement, whether he felt the club had done its due diligence in recruiting Sylvia.

"We're really comfortable that we knew what was coming through the door," Bond said.

"He was obviously a high-round draft pick that we brought in. We were really confident that Colin would be able to come into our environment, which is brilliantly led by our coaches and our leadership group, and have strong influence in regards to our team. 

"We never saw Colin as the saviour. We saw Colin as a player who could come in and play his part but unfortunately that hasn't happened." 

Sylvia celebrates with teammates after his first win at Fremantle. Picture: AFL Media

There was a moment early on that was quickly forgotten at the time but in hindsight – there's that word again – it was telling. 

The Dockers held a time-trial in December 2013 at Tompkins Park in Perth. Few were there to see it. Sylvia finished in the bottom bracket of players. At the time it was not a big deal. Other veterans like Matthew Pavlich, Luke McPharlin and Aaron Sandilands were on light duties on this particular day. 

Sylvia could have just been a slow starter to pre-season, or coming off an injury issue, but two months earlier, he said his body had never been better. 

It spoke of the environment he had come from. 

Cale Morton, Sylvia's former Melbourne teammate and a fellow top-four draft pick, had revealed earlier in 2013 that he had been one of the top runners at the Demons. But when he arrived at West Coast he found himself outside the top 10. Morton managed just three games for the Eagles before being delisted.

But what eventually transpired at Fremantle could not be blamed on Sylvia's former club. A driven individual, hungry to make an impression, would have raised the bar himself. Sylvia never did. 

Sylvia looks on during a pre-season gym session in December 2014. Picture: Michael Willson, AFL Media

He raised the ire of his coach when he got suspended for striking in the WAFL in early 2014. His captain Pavlich spoke of his trouble assimilating into the group.

Sylvia broke into the Fremantle side but never settled. He was dropped after six games and Lyon famously told 3AW: "He (Sylvia) has played a certain way for a long time and he needs to shift. We are not bending for Col. He needs to bend for us."

He did not bend. He broke.

Lyon and the club lost patience in February after another summer of failing to meet training standards and he was banished to the WAFL. 

It is a tactic Fremantle have used in the past, most successfully with Michael Walters, who has become a poster-boy for training standards at the club since he was exiled in early 2012.

But Sylvia did not respond.

There were rumours he was uninterested during Peel Thunder's first two practice matches.

He withdrew from round two due to a calf injury and he suffered reported concussion in round five. That was his last game for Peel. 

Like any marriage break-up, blame can be apportioned in either direction depending on the point of view.

In the end, Bond summed it up best.

"It hasn't worked for Colin and it hasn't worked for us." 

Melbourne's Tom McDonald pursues former teammate Sylvia in 2014. Picture: AFL Media