COACH Todd Viney has lauded the performance of Colin Sylvia, who booted five goals and had 29 disposals in Melbourne’s seven-point loss to Richmond at the MCG on Sunday.

Although Viney was frustrated by his team’s loss, he said Sylvia’s effort couldn’t be faulted.

“I was really happy with Col’s effort. He was one of the few, right from the start, who played at the required level with the intensity and hardness,” he said.

“I thought some of his ball use was fantastic - his simple brilliance.

“A couple of times, he chipped the ball over, rather than having a long shot at goal from 45-50 [metres]. He rewarded his teammate, which is something we spoke about from the week before, so I was really happy with his game.”

Viney, who floated the idea of naming Sylvia as a sub before the clash against Richmond, said the midfielder/forward had hit back strongly after being dropped for one match in round 20.

“We’d spoken to Col and his form hadn’t been that strong,” he said.

“From the moment he went back [to the VFL], we said we just wanted to see his defensive intent better.

“He’s one of the strongest players I’ve ever seen and I wanted to see more of that effort for longer periods of the game. And make sure his structures were right around the stoppages and his attention to detail in some of the smaller things.”

Viney also said Clint Bartram was “fantastic and stuck to his task all day” and praised the efforts of defenders James Frawley and Colin Garland.