Welcome to Collingwood - Dale Thomas - Selection Number 2

[Johnson#26]

FFS. A false dawn. Are you kidding me? The guy has just been drafted but he will amount to nothing already. Give him, and all others we have drafted, a break. Please.

[creedymagpie]

I work in Warragul and the area has been non stop talking about Thomas all year, i have been told by locals that he is the best player to ever come out of the area, yes the same area that produced Gary Ablett.

[Big T]

There was quite a bit of talk about him even in Queensland.

[LeonMcS]

If Ellis was supposed to be a sure thing at pick 2, why did the Hawks wait ten minutes before taking him at #3? Surely you'd think they couldn't believe their luck and would have snapped him up right away.

[EddieGold]

Hawthorn were too busy laughing to be able to make the selection.

[EddieGold]

Yes, we did select Thomas based on one Game performance...

and the under 18 carnival

Early call fazes Pies recruit
By Emma Quayle
November 27, 2005


THE TV crews and photographers had no clue where to turn. The first round of the AFL draft had just finished. In one corner, shaking Xavier Ellis' hand, welcoming him to Hawthorn and reminding him how important his year 12 studies would be next year, was the club's new president, Jeff Kennett.

Metres away, yanking a black and white guernsey over Dale Thomas' head and tucking his mop of blond hair under a Collingwood cap, was an equally excited Eddie McGuire.

Thomas had no clue who would call his name yesterday, did not expect he would hear it so soon into the draft and by the time McGuire got to him, was a little bit overwhelmed by the entire experience.

"I was pretty dumbfounded," Thomas said. "But it's pretty exciting. The heart starts to race. It's a pretty good experience."

But while Thomas did not know how he would handle his biggest moment, the Magpies had a clear idea. On grand final day, coach Mick Malthouse sat in the stands and watched his recruit buzz around the MCG and boot four goals for the Gippsland Power.

Thomas spent no time wondering how much that game had enhanced his AFL chances. "Obviously to play on the MCG on grand final day was a big thrill and to get a couple of kicks and get away with the win was great," he said.

"I suppose it didn't do my chances any harm, but I don't actually know what the Collingwood people took from that. I don't know what went down."

What happened was that Malthouse, who had heard about Thomas from his recruiting team and watched him play parts of the under-18 carnival in June, saw a player who knew how to play very well on an extremely big day.

He liked Thomas' speed, that he could use the ball just as well on either side of his body, and that didn't mind flinging himself around. Malthouse saw, as he mentioned to football manager Neil Balme last week, a player who simply looked like he should be wearing black and white.

"I said to Balmey that having played for Richmond back in the late 60s and early 70s, he wouldn't have been surprised to see a type of player like Dale Thomas running out and playing for Collingwood," he said.

"It's that 'top of the ground, take the mark, kick a goal and generally cause a bit of damage'. We're hoping that it happens in the 2000s, too."

Thomas, who must now head home to Drouin and pack up his bags, will be surrounded not only by new faces when he starts a pre-season he expects will unfold largely in the gym. With its second pick, Collingwood chose Scott Pendlebury, his teammate at Gippsland.

He has played plenty of footy with Danny Stanley, new Magpie No. 3, too. Collingwood finished off its day by drafting a pair of 17-year-olds, Ryan Cook and John Anthony, who recruiting manager Derek Hine happily compared to James Clement.

While next year feels a long way off, Thomas is ready to put some plans in place.

"For me now it probably will be sitting down with the club and seeing where they're at," he said.

"I reckon I'll spend a fair bit of time in the gym over the pre-season. It will just be head down, tail up. I'll try to work hard and, hopefully, play a bit of footy next year."

[Cam]

Thomas will be a better bet than Chris Egan methinks.

[foxychick]

for sure cam

[sq3]

I am extremely happy with the Pies draft picks.

All the media played the Ellis card but MM and the others never had eyes for anyone but Thomas - especially after the TAC GF.

Look at where we were deficient in 2005 and they have drafted to attempt to fix that problem.

Hearing Sheehan talk was also very positive - Ellis - one sided and mainly runs from HB to centre, but Thomas Center and forward - and very adept on both sides of the body.

This kid is the real deal and he comes for the home of Ablett.

Pies have got exactly what they wanted in the draft - watch out for Pendlebury as he is another Riewoldt type but better - and with him and C3 boy we have some tall, big, nasty guys that can run, leap and really play football - the Twin towers of the future.

Thomas will get some senior footbal in 2006 after months in the gym - but his skills on both sides of the body are exceptional, very good pack mark, very fast over the ground and has that nasty edge - I trully believe this is the second coming of the famous no. 42 that we have sadly missed for so long.

Thomas will be a hybrid of Bux and Pants - great pick up DHine.

[Johnson#26]

[RayByrneForPOPE]

Dont get me wrong Thomas is a very good player but, i compared him to a Licuria in another post i should have compared him to a Brodie Holland, he is a underpack midfielder who goes forward occasionally, he is not a forward like Didak or Chris Egan he is nothing like them, you people are going on one game the Tac g/f I am going by watching him play every second week this year. I am glad we got him but also very dissappointed we didn't take Ellis. I wish we got both and Pendlebury is an awesome player as well, i just reckon we should have taken Ellis at 2 and we would have got either Thomas or Pendlbury at 5 but that did not happen so lets just look forward to next year. The best thing for me in the draft was to see 4 Gippsland kids go in the top 10.

[vinnie_vegas69]

[deck]

[Daniel]

[loki04]