EXPEREINCED defender Colin Garland is adamant the club now has premiership players within its squad – hence why he never seriously considered leaving the club as a free agent.

Although Garland, who finished seventh in the club best and fairest this year, has been through some tough times at Melbourne, he said the wheel had turned and he was excited about the future.

“I’ve said to the players here that I know there are premiership players here at the Melbourne Football Club in the group now. That’s not all of us – it might not be me, but hopefully it is,” he told Dee TV.  

“With some of the younger players we have and our mid-tier players like Jack Viney, I know those guys will win a premiership and I want to be around here for as long as I can.

“That provides me with the enthusiasm to go out and do the pre-season training and to try and get the best out of myself. I’m in the side at the moment and I want people like Mitch White and Oscar McDonald to improve, so that will make me better to try and hold my spot in the team.”

Garland said he now “couldn’t be any more positive about the club” and said he felt “really rejuvenated” this year.

“That’s why it is frustrating when people say ‘oh, they carry the past too much’ because that’s just not the case,” he said.

“We’ve had a huge list turnover at this club – there’s barely anyone who’s been here since 2012. I’m really positive about the future and I’m trying to get the best out of myself to stay around here.”

Garland, who signed a new three-year deal, said he held off from re-signing earlier in the year, as he truly wanted to get his football back on track, after a tough year with an ankle injury in 2014.

“My big thing about the year was just trying to play good footy – more for myself and the club to get back to a consistent level. Where I’ve been in the past, I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time or take a spot that I wasn’t worthy of,” he said.

“My two things when I thought about my contract were firstly, where do I see the club? I’m really positive about the future of the place. The Club said that we really believe that we can make finals next year and I firmly believe that.

“My second consideration was ‘are we coached well enough to get the best out of myself? I think we’ve got the best coaching staff in the competition. When I look at how well educated our young players are now, it just blows me away, compared to what we’ve had in the past. I definitely don’t want to leave. I see a great future and I see this as an environment where I will get the best out of myself.”

Garland said being a free agent forced him to take stock, but he never genuinely thought about leaving Melbourne.

“For players who have been around for eight years or longer like myself, you do have a lot of options. When I sit back and look at it, I know I can get the best out of myself here,” he said.

“I know that I’ve got a great relationship with my line coach, Jade Rawlings. Simon Goodwin has come in and he’s a great offensive coach, which I know I need to keep working on – in terms of that side of my game.

“There were other factors too. I was one year off life membership, which was extremely important to me. In the end, I just think that I’m a Melbourne person, so good, bad or indifferent I wanted to see it out and spend my career here because I do genuinely love the club. I feel like I can help the young players and also help on field as well.”

The 27-year-old said having signed his new deal, he was conscious of the time he had left in the game. 

“You do look at how many years you’ve got left, especially when you want to be playing finals. You want to play forever, but there are other things you need to consider,” he said.

“You might want to play local footy and still be able to actually play or you might want be a player/coach, if that’s what you want to do after footy.

“To be able to play on the MCG is such a great thrill and you want that to last as long as it can, but you do start to look at your age more in terms of success, when you get to my age. That’s why free agency is such a big thing these days because if players get to eight years and don’t see success, they can go to another club.”

Garland said success was the only thing he now craved in his football career. Naturally, he wants to be part of that, but if his career is over by then – he still wants to see the red and blue succeed.

“I’m more of the character where if I just missed out on [premiership] success at Melbourne by a year, I would be just as happy to see the success,” he said.

“[At least I would] know that I was there to build up that success … [rather] than just go for a year or two and have success somewhere else. If I just missed out, I’d know that I gave it my all and that I was part of a club that came from nothing and built its way up.

“In the end, I felt that my individual wants or needs were less important than the actual club because the club has given me so much.”