A RENEWED focus on planning and preparation is the simple reason for Colin Sylvia's emergence as one of Melbourne's most valuable players.

Having arrived at the Demons with pick three in the 2003 NAB AFL Draft, Sylvia spent his first four seasons showing glimpses of a potential that always seemed to be limited by injury, form or discipline.

But some self-assessment in the lead-up to his 2008 campaign saw him start to repay the hopes the Demons had always had in him.

And he hasn't looked back since.

"I suppose going back three or four years ago my footy career was at the crossroads and I realised I had to change things in my lifestyle," Sylvia told melbournefc.com.au.

"I did have a lot of injuries and probably doubted my body and whether it could live up to AFL requirements.

"It's a demanding sport on the body and I put an action plan in place and had some really good people around me to get me out of the rut."

One of Sylvia's main objectives was learning to read the warning signs from a battle-weary body that had let him down so often.

A simple but significant change was a getting a little bit of extra taping in the trainers' rooms before games.

"I did a lot of work on my core, which I'd had a lot of problems with. Some people are naturally strong through the core and I wasn't," he said.

"I do a bit of taping there that I continue to do today across the pelvis to give me some stability. That gives me confidence.

"I've had O.P. pretty much my whole career, especially those first three or four years at Melbourne. Looking back, over the past three years my preparation has given me the most confidence. You make sure you tick all the boxes and do everything you can do to perform at your optimum."

Sylvia is the first to admit his preparation in his first few seasons was not what it could have been and he now makes a point of making sure Melbourne's younger players are focused right from the start.

"The younger fellas used to be able to get away with it a little bit more in the old days. I've seen the change just in the eight years I've been playing. The professionalism is going through the roof and you need to keep up to speed with that otherwise it is just going to leave you behind," he said.

"When you look at our list and how young it is, we need to fast track these kids as quickly as we possibly can. Hopefully this window of opportunity isn't too far around the corner and that comes by giving a younger guy some advice from what not only I have experienced but others as well."

Sylvia has been one of Melbourne's most consistent players in an inconsistent year for the club.

He says it is difficult to figure out why the team finds it so hard to put together two solid games, but says consistency has become something of an obsession around the club.

"It's been a bit of a process. We're trying to break it down to what it actually is," he said.

"Something we can control week in, week out is having that consistent effort for the 22 selected each week."