Is Thomas future captaincy material?

[bluesforever]

Just wondering if you guys think he has the attitude to lead, I know he's extremely young and such but has he got the attitude of a leader? He will/should be a star but will we see a Murphy - Carlton Thomas - Collingwood match in coming years? I'd love to see it.

Thomas looks to be a great player, but will he lead Collingwood some day? Who else would you guys put up as future captain in 5 years, who is the pick of your young guys in attitude and commitment?

 

[Dave The Man]

What I have seen. Heath Shaw has a very good Chance of being Captain!

 

[Coin_Toss]

It's too hard to tell. He has the ability but I'm not sure whether he can lead the club. He has a long way to go before we appoint him captain.

Heath Shaw seems to be the type of player that typifies attitude and commitment. He plays for the jumper - just like his father and uncle - and he has the ability. He directed traffic in the back line and put a few senior players in line. If he moves into the midfield it should help his chances.

The next captain of Collingwood is Josh Fraser. He will take over the reigns from Buckley after he retires.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Early days but I'd say yes.

 

[PieGal]

BF,

Thomas has enormous courage which is a good head start...time will tell...

Heath Shaw might be the young one in wating..

For Carlton, Murphy has everything you want in a future leader..quality player, quality person...

 

[GeneralDisarray]

Courage, commitment and work ethic is all first class.
Plus, he appears to be smart and sensible which is what you want in a captain. So absolutely he's captain material, after Josh gives it up.

And I wouldn't be surprised to see Thomas in the leadership group within the next 4 years. Possibly as a vice captain.

 

[Lockyer24]

Heath Shaw, Ben Johnson, Josh Fraser and perhaps Didak should be our next long term captaincy group

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Heath Shaw, Ben Johnson, Josh Fraser and perhaps Didak should be our next long term captaincy group

None of that rules Thomas out in the long term, he's 5-6 years younger than most of those guys.

 

[SKAMAN]

Whooooa boy!...way too early. Lets wait to see if he has what it takes. Early signs are good in the "playing" dept. Leadership...who knows at this extremely early stage.As I've said over at Nicks, I believe Heath Shaw is a natural leader, and will be at some stage (IMO). However, in the meantime plenty have earned the right to leadership status (not necessarily Capt.). The likes of Clem, Fraser, Johnno and perhaps Dids are lightyears ahead of Choo choo (at this stage). He is an excitement machine though.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

I think he's captaincy material, but with that said, I don't know that he will be captain.

Heath Shaw is only 21, and looks to have the goods for that role, and we never know how our other draftees will develop in terms of leadership potential. John Anthony is one who is said to have impressed with his strong and vocal personality.

 

[PieLebo87]

Thomas will be what Didz is now.
The star of the team.

Similiar as Bucks when Gavin Brown was captain. He was the superstar, and Gavin Brown was the leader.

We'll have our leaders, (Heater, Fraser ect.)

Then we'll have the league star, Dale Thomas.

That makes sense doesn't it?

 

[Brad Pearce]

Thomas will be what Didz is now.
The star of the team.

Similiar as Bucks when Gavin Brown was captain. He was the superstar, and Gavin Brown was the leader.

We'll have our leaders, (Heater, Fraser ect.)

Then we'll have the league star, Dale Thomas.

That makes sense doesn't it?

Stretching it a bit there
Murphy will be a star ahead of thomas

 

[FuManchu]

Stretching it a bit there
Murphy will be a star ahead of thomas

the problem is: will carlton always be a team while murphy is a player?

 

[Johnson#26]

Bit early to call yet.

 

[Dazman]

Bit early to call yet.

Hate to sound like a pessimist BUT

Thomas won't be a leader. He is a HFF, hopefully (and all signs point ot this) a really good one who can kick 4 or 5 goals in crunch time.

FOR ALL CARLTON FANS - Murphy is and will be a better player. He will be a genuine midfielder and has captain written all over him. The Thomas vs. Murphy argument is irrelevamt because he was gone before our pick. Come and troll our board when Ellis is a superstar (because we actually said "thanks, but no thanks"). Sadly I see him as a skinny HBF, one sided and soft.

 

[ant22]

Hate to sound like a pessimist BUT

Thomas won't be a leader. He is a HFF, hopefully (and all signs point ot this) a really good one who can kick 4 or 5 goals in crunch time.

Do they?? I strongly dissagree. Thomas has pace, courage, is good in traffic, does not fumble, wins one on one possition and is good under pressure but most of all he has the number one quality that good mids have-HE CAN FIND THE FOOTY. His biggest question mark is his tank but as we no most 18 yos can't run out a game in the guts. I would say he has every chance of being a fine midfielder who has the ability to pay forward and kick goals. The player I like to compare him to is brad johnson. Most people think Johnson is a forward but played most of his career in the guts but is so strong and good in the air he is able to play out his later years as a dangerous forward. Not saying he will be as good but thats who he reminds me of.

He does display good leadership and appears to have a great attitude but it is a little to early to tell if he will be captain material.

 

[don vito of fitzroy]

Thomas is one of those flamboyant players. I can't see a guy like him being captain. If Clement isn't the next captain, maybe Rhyce Shaw would be an alright choice.

 

[ant22]

*Nothing to read here*

Based on what??

Do you actually know the guy or are you one of those people who says hello to a celeb and gets ignored therefore makes the assumption that person is a ??. Because from his media performances he seems like a very refreshingly honest down to earth person.

As for being an average player Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[loki04]

hes actually the only player who ticks all the boxs for me, h.shaw is more vice captian material your captain should be able to lift the side dale has this ability. He also reminds me more of hird than johnson both started as a forward come midfielder and both do the freakish + have courage in spades.

 

[Dazman]

Do they?? I strongly dissagree. Thomas has pace, courage, is good in traffic, does not fumble, wins one on one possition and is good under pressure but most of all he has the number one quality that good mids have-HE CAN FIND THE FOOTY. His biggest question mark is his tank but as we no most 18 yos can't run out a game in the guts.

He doesn't look like a midfielder to me. He doesn't quite have the tank and you can't use the excuse that its because hes 18 because Murphy killed it this year. He doesn't seem to be able to find the footy as much as you think he did. Most games he was in the low to mid teens in disposals. This could be put down to the limited opportunities he got in the middle though. Pace wasn't great but he is no slouch. Showed he doesn't mind a contest and has lots of courage which are huge benefits.

You have to remember he was the All-Australian U18 HFF. The midfielders were Murphy and Jones.

 

[rand corp]

Put simply: its still way too early to tell.

 

[Johnny_3]

What I have seen. Heath Shaw has a very good Chance of being Captain!

a great young player who has shown leadership. in others under 22 don't look capeable of leading your club.

 

[FIGJAM]

He doesn't look like a midfielder to me. He doesn't quite have the tank and you can't use the excuse that its because hes 18 because Murphy killed it this year. He doesn't seem to be able to find the footy as much as you think he did. Most games he was in the low to mid teens in disposals. This could be put down to the limited opportunities he got in the middle though. Pace wasn't great but he is no slouch. Showed he doesn't mind a contest and has lots of courage which are huge benefits.

You have to remember he was the All-Australian U18 HFF. The midfielders were Murphy and Jones.

You're entitled to you opinion.

I reckon he's got clear midfield capability. His tank can and will be fixed. He's an incredibly hard trainer.

Murphy came into the AFL better prepared physically than most of his teammates (no exaggeration). He also has had an AFL standard coach teaching him the tricks since year dot.

"Pace wasn't great" is an interesting observation. He burnt away or ran down many a fast AFL level player, and if he didn't, it was because he had just ran 200 metres at break neck speed trying to win the ball for us.

Low teen possession count (14 average) has to do with mostly flank positions, and maximum 60% game time.

Outside of his freak on the flanks, he also showed clear inside midfield capability. In game one even, against the Crows, some of his gathers and feeds by hand were pure silk and put our boys into space.

As for where he's named at U18 All Aus level, it's entirely irrelevant. Blokes like Nathan Brown Senior, Shannon Grant or Brad Johnson may have all been named on a HFF if they had U18AA's in their time, and whilst they are clearly great forwards, no one would deny that they can't play midfield as well.

 

[ant22]

He doesn't look like a midfielder to me. He doesn't quite have the tank and you can't use the excuse that its because hes 18 because Murphy killed it this year. He doesn't seem to be able to find the footy as much as you think he did. Most games he was in the low to mid teens in disposals. This could be put down to the limited opportunities he got in the middle though. Pace wasn't great but he is no slouch. Showed he doesn't mind a contest and has lots of courage which are huge benefits.

You have to remember he was the All-Australian U18 HFF. The midfielders were Murphy and Jones.

We obviously have a very different opinion on what we consider to be an ability to find the footy. He averaged around 14 ps playing mainly as a forward flanker which is commonly known as starvation corner. And he is only 18. I think this clearly displays his ability to find the pill as most experienced hff's would be happy with those stats.

I am not really concerned about comparing him to murphy, murphy is a born rover/centre man in the old game.Thomas might have the tank but many 18yos do not,murphy is an expection. In modern footy mids come in all shapes and sizes and with the way the game is played he will only need to play 60% in the guts to be considered a dangerous mid. He then has the weapons to spend another 20-30% up forward and can have a rest like all players do for 10-20% of the game. Look at Dane swan some could argue he does not have the tank and yet many would argue he was our best mid. HE played very little footy in the midfield in his first 2-3 seasons. your view of a mid sounds a little old fashion to me.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

I don't think so. Only because of the same reason as Didak will never be, he's a star performer and a gun player but he isn't a leader. He has days down in the dumps like any player but unlike Buckley, he still doesn't lift the team on those days. You need team players, and MM has been very smart with his leadership. Buckley, Clement, Fraser and Lockyer always lead from the front.