Josh Thomas

[FIGJAM]

Time will tell but is he undersized maybe? Are we saying he will make it as a mid or small forward?

We have a few of this type on our list, how many players 176cm and under can you have in your starting 22?
Blair 174cm
Elliot 175
Krak 176
J Thomas 176
Ugle 172

IMO in some matches we had one too many of this type on the park last year (probs due to injuries), they seem to be brushed aside with ease in contested situations and struggle to bring down bigger bodied players in a tackle. Not sure you can have Blair, Sinclair, Elliot, Krak & J Thomas in the same side. Mids seem to getting bigger & bigger nowadays.

You mustn't have seen him play.

He's a starting 4 inside midfield clearance specialist. He has a relentless desire for the pill and is a tackling machine. You don't care how big Sam Mitchell is. All JT needs is to get over his foot problems.

He's not competing with Krak or Elliot, and Blairy is handy on the ball, but more of your under the radar mid/forward midget in the mould of McGlynn. I'd be delisting Ugle personally.

 

[loki04]

I think this sums it up;

JT's bandwagon;

Wood's bandwagon;

Bit generous to Wood don't you think? His bandwagon doesn't even have wheels!

 

[the distributer]

Lot's of our VFL watchers thought Blight was the second coming, we all know how that turned out, hopefully they're on the money this time.

 

[blaze036]

You mustn't have seen him play.

He's a starting 4 inside midfield clearance specialist. He has a relentless desire for the pill and is a tackling machine. You don't care how big Sam Mitchell is. All JT needs is to get over his foot problems.

He's not competing with Krak or Elliot, and Blairy is handy on the ball, but more of your under the radar mid/forward midget in the mould of McGlynn. I'd be delisting Ugle personally.

I think he is a very one dimensional inside midfielder, and not a mid/forward at all, he barely kicks any goals in the VFL let alone the AFL, whilst Mcglynn was one of sydneys top goal kickers before injury.
I think in a few years (if he is still around) he will be competing with elliot as elliot gets a midfield engine and bulks up, elliot also has far more tools and skills. Blair is pretty similar to him, however can play forward well and is better around the ground.

 

[mocamagic]

Lot's of our VFL watchers thought Blight was the second coming, we all know how that turned out, hopefully they're on the money this time.

I agree with the distributer and would also add Jye Bolton to the "second coming" list.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I never saw what everyone saw in Bolton, and to be fair, talent was never Blight's problem.

 

[SnakePlisskin]

Lot's of our VFL watchers thought Blight was the second coming, we all know how that turned out, hopefully they're on the money this time.

I call it the Andrew Pascoe syndrome .

 

[Baltimore Jack]

I agree with the distributer and would also add Jye Bolton to the "second coming" list.

But only those who never say him play and who believed the hype of just one pre-season practice game, then starting walking around with star dust in their eyes.
If you saw him at VFL level he was very ordinary who at best would put in a good quarter then never be seen again.
And let's face it, as soon as a player pulls on a Collingwood jumper there are those that will say that player is as good as Garry Ablett.

 

[Vampire013]

From what I know Thomas is rated very highly by the club. He will not be de-listed. He was an emergency a couple of times near the end of the season in a few of the games and perhaps even in one of the finals games. The kid has been injured. No use bagging him without him having an opportunity to play. All I remember is a few years ago when he was recruited, Harry O tweeted after and intra club practice game: "Josh Thomas = gun". Time will tell and Eade wrote recently that he is expected to play a lot of senior footy next year !

 

[THATSGOLD]

There is one over hyped second coming player very pre season. C Mooney12 J Witts 11, J Bolton 10 J Blight 09 M Clarke 06 so on

 

[blaze036]

From what I know Thomas is rated very highly by the club. He will not be de-listed. He was an emergency a couple of times near the end of the season in a few of the games and perhaps even in one of the finals games. The kid has been injured. No use bagging him without him having an opportunity to play. All I remember is a few years ago when he was recruited, Harry O tweeted after and intra club practice game: "Josh Thomas = gun". Time will tell and Eade wrote recently that he is expected to play a lot of senior footy next year !

being an emergency doesn't mean much, ugle was an emergecny quiet a few times and will still be delisted. Just because his been injured a lot doesn't mean you can't delist him, if he is constantly on the sidelines and his talent isnt a grade then normally you are on the chopping/trade block.

A 3 year old tweet from Harry O after an intra club practice game means not that much. I'd like to see him put on the rookie list

 

[Masked Magician]

There is one over hyped second coming player very pre season. C Mooney12 J Witts 11, J Bolton 10 J Blight 09 M Clarke 06 so on

Correct, but the people who hype have no idea, eg mooney isnt going anywhere anytime soon.... a player who has played footy there whole life will always beat a foreigner, as M clarke was shown out this year when we have a good team, witts is the one for me i dont mind, but i believe he should of played games against GWS this year

 

[Dundalis]

I think he is a very one dimensional inside midfielder, and not a mid/forward at all, he barely kicks any goals in the VFL let alone the AFL, whilst Mcglynn was one of sydneys top goal kickers before injury.
I think in a few years (if he is still around) he will be competing with elliot as elliot gets a midfield engine and bulks up, elliot also has far more tools and skills. Blair is pretty similar to him, however can play forward well and is better around the ground.

You know what one dimensional players can also be? Very very good at that one dimension. I'll take a player who is brilliant at one position, especially when that position is an important one on the field, which inside mid certainly is, over a so called versatile player who is ok at lots of positions. As has been mentioned Sam Mitchell is short and also very much a one dimensional player, yet he almost single handedly destroyed us each time we played Hawthorn this year. Luke Ball is just as one dimensional also.

The other blokes you mention are perhaps more versatile, but they will likely never be as good in one position as Thomas could be in his.

 

[blaze036]

You know what one dimensional players can also be? Very very good at that one dimension. I'll take a player who is brilliant at one position, especially when that position is an important one on the field, which inside mid certainly is, over a so called versatile player who is ok at lots of positions. As has been mentioned Sam Mitchell is short and also very much a one dimensional player, yet he almost single handedly destroyed us each time we played Hawthorn this year. Luke Ball is just as one dimensional also.

The other blokes you mention are perhaps more versatile, but they will likely never be as good in one position as Thomas could be in his.

yes sometimes one dimensional players do very well in the AFL, however its rare and in the modern day most players need to be versatile to survive. Its a bit of a laugh to compare sam mitchell to josh thomas... lets not even suggest his inside ball winning talent is even close to mitchel. Due to the fact Josh Thomas ISN'T brilliant (like sam mitchell) i think he will find it hard to survive in modern footy which requires most of the team to be able to play multiple positions. How many average players survive in modern footy that are truly one dimensional? And yes, josh thomas is just an average player, hate to burst the bubble.

 

[blaze036]

Correct, but the people who hype have no idea, eg mooney isnt going anywhere anytime soon.... a player who has played footy there whole life will always beat a foreigner, as M clarke was shown out this year when we have a good team, witts is the one for me i dont mind, but i believe he should of played games against GWS this year

Mooney was our best VFL forward in his FIRST year, his improvement has been so rapid he even got 4 AFL games and will play a lot more next year as his improvement continues its upwards spike.

And a little fellow called Jim Synes and T.Kenelly might just remind you that sometimes "foreingers" arn't all that bad

 

[FIGJAM]

There is one over hyped second coming player very pre season. C Mooney12 J Witts 11, J Bolton 10 J Blight 09 M Clarke 06 so on

Clarke in 2007 played an integral role in almost getting over the best Cats outfit ever in a Prelim.

Blight was a gun, but soft in the head, which was evident from the get go when we needed to get John Bertrand on board. He couldn't mature mentally, but his footy skills and athletic prowess was never in question.

Like Blight, Bolton deserved another rookie year on form, but again, he wasn't dropped for on-field output.

Witts was never expected to play AFL this year and finished it off strongly in the ruck.

Mooney has already kicked bags of goals in his first year, in the world's second best competition, and got games in the world's best competition. He may not be good enough, but it's a reasonable start!

 

[Masked Magician]

Mooney was our best VFL forward in his FIRST year, his improvement has been so rapid he even got 4 AFL games and will play a lot more next year as his improvement continues its upwards spike.

And a little fellow called Jim Synes and T.Kenelly might just remind you that sometimes "foreingers" arn't all that bad

Mooney will not be a part of our next premiership team

 

[Number 10]

Mooney will not be a part of our next premiership team

Correct, but the people who hype have no idea, eg mooney isnt going anywhere anytime soon.... a player who has played footy there whole life will always beat a foreigner, as M clarke was shown out this year when we have a good team, witts is the one for me i dont mind, but i believe he should of played games against GWS this year

Lol ok mate. Pull the other one. How can u say a guy who had never played a football game prior to this year isn't going anywhere soon- even though he was in the top 3 VFL players and played AFL by the middle of the season???

Then u say Mooney won't be part of our next premiership like you are some expert football guru. In fact I reckon you know SFA about his ability.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Due to the fact Josh Thomas ISN'T brilliant (like sam mitchell) i think he will find it hard to survive in modern footy which requires most of the team to be able to play multiple positions.

Sam Mitchell wasn't thought to be so brilliant when he was stuck in the VFL. He got his opportunity and he took it. No reason JT can't do the same. And no reason I can see why he couldn't play on a flank like Beams and Wellingham have done.

 

[Dundalis]

yes sometimes one dimensional players do very well in the AFL, however its rare and in the modern day most players need to be versatile to survive. Its a bit of a laugh to compare sam mitchell to josh thomas... lets not even suggest his inside ball winning talent is even close to mitchel. Due to the fact Josh Thomas ISN'T brilliant (like sam mitchell) i think he will find it hard to survive in modern footy which requires most of the team to be able to play multiple positions. How many average players survive in modern footy that are truly one dimensional? And yes, josh thomas is just an average player, hate to burst the bubble.

Ah yes. Sam Mitchell was so brilliant he slipped all the way to 36 in the 2001 draft as an overage player who had failed to get drafted previously. He was so brilliant he, well actually wasn't until his 4th season, and had looked relatively bog standard previous to that.

And plenty of players are one dimensional. Many of the better midfielders in the league would be quite poor if played in other positions. Your versatility argument is way overdone.

 

[Stripes B and W]

Lets hope JT makes the grade, we have shown a deal of patience already and we can only keep our fingers crossed he can stay on the park.
Re versatility, i think it is a huge plus, particularly in a smallish player.
Dundalis, you make the point that many of the competition best mids would be poor in other positions. But isnt the point that, in fact, they are the leagues best mids? So it doesnt matter a jot if Selwood or Watson or Mitchell are ordinary other than as a mid.
I'll take in a heartbeat, JT turning into a useful player who can take his turn through the midfield with spells as a small, proabably negative forward or a small back.
Maybe in 6 years he will be a Mitchell if we let him develop, who knows, Dawes maybe a David Cloke type in a few years too.

 

[Vampire013]

How about we wait and see what happens next year. Too many people here think they are list managers and have already de-listed certain players. All I know about John Thomas is that the kid has been injured and has not had a proper pre-season to date. He had stress fractures which is what James Hird had and that nearly finished his career. It seems the kid is over that injury problem now and will have an opportunity to show everyone what he can do. No one is hyping him up as the next big thing, but everyone that actually is a true supporter will wish that he succeeds. It's easy to have pot shots at someone. How about saying something nice. Why bag someone in advance? I hope he turns into a gun. If not, bad luck. We move on !

 

[blaze036]

Mooney will not be a part of our next premiership team

Are you serious? Bewildering comment to say the least...

 

[Shaneprice97]

He wasn't to bad in 2013

 

[rand corp]

Great young talent wit a great work ethic, if he can put the run of injuries firmly behind him he should go on to be a very good clearance and stoppage specialist for us and he does love to get forward and jag a goal or two.

Expecting continued improvement and a big year from this boy