Matthew Thomas (born 27 February 1987) 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 the

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

and the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

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). In 2013, Thomas won the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

while playing for Norwood. He was delisted by Port Adelaide at the end of the 2013 season. Thomas was picked up by Richmond in the 2013 Rookie Draft and then elevated to its senior list on 11 March 2014.

Port Adelaide career

Recruited at pick number eight in the 2006 Pre-season draft from

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

side

Sandringham Dragons The Sandringham Dragons are an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based at the Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham, Victoria, representing the southern ...

, Thomas played as either a defender or a midfielder. Because he was drafted from outside South Australia, Thomas was placed in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL) internal draft, and picked up by Norwood. Thomas made his debut in the third round of the SANFL, against

Woodville-West Torrens Woodville-West Torrens Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). It was formed in 1990 from an amalgamation of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football clu ...

. He played 10 games and scored one goal for Norwood during the 2006 season. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Thomas made his AFL debut in round 14 against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, after some impressive mid-season form with Norwood in the SANFL. His first kick in AFL football resulted in a goal, although Port Adelaide lost the match by 38 points. Thomas was kept in the side that played

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, ...

the next week, and scored another goal. He then played another six games for the year, playing eight in total and kicking three goals. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Thomas spent time in hospital, after complications from having his appendix removed. He lost 15 kg in just two weeks, after an abdominal infection following his appendix removal. It was so severe that he had a section of his intestine removed. In 2013, Thomas won the

while playing for Norwood. He was delisted by Port Adelaide at season's end.

Richmond career

Thomas was recruited by Richmond at pick 42 in the 2014 Rookie Draft held in November 2013. His first appearance in a Richmond jumper was on 22 February 2014, in the

NAB Challenge 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 ...

series and he had 15 disposals, two marks and two tackles. On 11 March 2014, Thomas was elevated to the club's senior list. He announced his retirement in October 2015.

Playing statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 32 , , 8 , , 3 , , 3 , , 39 , , 43 , , 82 , , 21 , , 25 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 4.9 , , 5.4 , , 10.3 , , 2.6 , , 3.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 32 , , 4 , , 1 , , 1 , , 18 , , 25 , , 43 , , 13 , , 6 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 4.5 , , 6.3 , , 10.8 , , 3.3 , , 1.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , 32 , , 5 , , 0 , , 0 , , 21 , , 41 , , 62 , , 12 , , 22 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.2 , , 8.2 , , 12.4 , , 2.4 , , 4.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , 21 , , 12 , , 3 , , 5 , , 60 , , 136 , , 196 , , 53 , , 42 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 5.0 , , 11.3 , , 16.3 , , 4.4 , , 3.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , 21 , , 20 , , 6 , , 6 , , 131 , , 219 , , 350 , , 62 , , 113 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 6.6 , , 11.0 , , 17.5 , , 3.1 , , 5.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, , 21 , , 19 , , 8 , , 2 , , 105 , , 210 , , 315 , , 66 , , 123 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 5.5 , , 11.1 , , 16.6 , , 3.5 , , 6.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, , 21 , , 15 , , 6 , , 9 , , 89 , , 129 , , 218 , , 55 , , 63 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 5.9 , , 8.6 , , 14.5 , , 3.7 , , 4.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, , 21 , , 4 , , 3 , , 1 , , 18 , , 45 , , 63 , , 12 , , 14 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 4.5 , , 11.3 , , 15.8 , , 3.0 , , 3.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, , 19 , , 13 , , 4 , , 0 , , 81 , , 185 , , 266 , , 50 , , 77 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 6.2 , , 14.2 , , 20.5 , , 3.8 , , 5.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, , 19 , , 2 , , 2 , , 0 , , 11 , , 28 , , 39 , , 8 , , 6 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.5 , , 14.0 , , 19.5 , , 4.0 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 102 ! 36 ! 27 ! 573 ! 1061 ! 1634 ! 352 ! 491 ! 0.4 ! 0.3 ! 5.6 ! 10.4 ! 16.0 ! 3.5 ! 4.8

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Matt Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Richmond Football Club players Norwood Football Club players Sandringham Dragons players Magarey Medal winners 1987 births Living people