Lindsay Thomas (born 29 February 1988) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

AFL career

Drafted by the Kangaroos in the fourth round of the 2006 AFL Draft from the

Port Adelaide Magpies Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed the Power, whilst its reserves ...

, Thomas made impressive performance by kicking four goals in his first pre-season game against Collingwood in the

NAB Cup In the Australian Football League (AFL), previously the Victorian Football League (VFL), the pre-season competition, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names and most recently as the NAB Cup, was an annual Australian rules foot ...

Carrara Oval Carrara Stadium (known commercially as Metricon Stadium) is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara. The stadium is primarily used for Australian rules football, serving as the home ground of th ...

. Thomas made his AFL debut in Round 1 of the 2007 season, scoring no goals but five behinds in a loss against Collingwood. In 2010 Thomas led North Melbourne's goalkicking with 29 goals which included 7 against

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

in Round 12. The 2011 season was not a successful season for Thomas. He struggled badly with kicking for goal all year and was at one stage dropped from the senior side because of this. He finished the season with 21 goals and 36 behinds. In 2012, Thomas' accuracy improved markedly and he kicked 38.19 for the season. The 38 goals for the season was his highest in a year so far. He played 19 games for the year, and was held goalless in only 3 of them. He played his 100th game in Round 12, 2012, against

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. In September 2012 he signed a two-year deal with the club to remain there until the end of 2014. In 2013, Thomas had a career-best year, kicking 53 goals for the season. He also finished seventh in the

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer ...

, the highest position for a small forward that year. In the 2014 season Thomas he finished with 45 goals and played in 23 games. He continued to play well in 2015 and 2016 and kicked 34 and 37 goals in the seasons respectfully and played in nearly all games. Thomas was delisted by North Melbourne at the end of the 2017 season.

flagged their interest in him following his delisting and then drafted him in the 2017 AFL rookie draft. Thomas made his debut for Port Adelaide in round 5 of the 2018 season, kicking one goal in a 34 point loss to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Ducking controversy

In 2016, Thomas sparked debate over high tackles and whether players are purposely getting taken high and milking a free kick. After the Round 10 game against

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, when Thomas allegedly ducked into two tackles,

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

great

Dermott Brereton Dermott Hugh Brereton (born 19 August 1964) is an Australian former professional Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League (AFL) who is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent (his p ...

said that Thomas' actions were "not in the spirit of the game". Numerous coaches and supporters said the head high free kicks should be looked at and singled out Thomas. However, the North Melbourne coach, Brad Scott, pointed out that there are many duckers in the league and it happens every week but everyone seems to blame Thomas.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Lindsay 1988 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Magpies players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Australian rules footballers from South Australia North Ballarat Football Club players Werribee Football Club players Australia international rules football team players