The former Demon has endured a rough start to his time at Fremantle.
After playing 157 matches in 10 seasons with Melbourne, the No. 3 pick from the 2003 NAB AFL draft signed a three-year deal to join the Dockers as an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2013.
Since moving west, the 28-year-old has found life tough. He played in the NAB Challenge in the pre-season but then found himself playing in the WAFL with Peel Thunder when the premiership season began.
He averaged just 16 disposals and a goal in his seven matches at WAFL level.
The low point came in round four when he was suspended for two matches for rough conduct on Subiaco's Brett Mahoney.
Lyon said at the time it showed a "lack of discipline" and that he had put a "significant hurdle in front on himself". Captain Matthew Pavlich also stated at the time that Sylvia had taken some time to understand exactly what the Dockers stood for.
However, after Sylvia finally made his Fremantle debut last Saturday as the substitute against Richmond, Lyon said he had earned the respect of his peers with some really strong efforts and will be hard to displace from the side.
"I don't give anyone any games," Lyon said on Tuesday.
"You earn them. So he earned his spot and he played. His output was solid.
"The players are giving him good feedback. They liked his effort.
"I wouldn't have thought we'll be sending him back to the WAFL."
Lyon said the positive feedback for Sylvia's efforts came in the team's review of Saturday's 20-point win.
"We always show highlights of effort and players deliver that, and Col featured in a bit," Lyon said.
"That's always our first meeting of the week.
"It's generally a pleasant meeting to be in because we tend to give pretty good effort. It's that whole positive reinforcement - what we value.
"So that's what we do, and Col featured today, as did a lot of players."
While Sylvia has broken into the side, Anthony Morabito is still waiting for an opportunity to make his long-awaited return to senior football.
The midfielder has averaged 21 touches across nine games in the WAFL and although he had just 18 disposals last weekend, his form has been strong enough to catch the attention of the Fremantle match committee.
Lyon said he is as keen as anyone to see Morabito return to senior football but the veteran coach is still urging patience given what the 22-year-old has been through.
"We all want it to happen but at the end of the day the context is, he's missed three years of footy," Lyon said.
"He's played (17) games in three years. That's a fair bit of conditioning, off a significant rehabilitation, that he has to make up.
"He's making the ground quickly. He's certainly starting to have output that entitles him to play some AFL footy but he's still in a building phase.
"Is it this week? I'm not too sure."
