Paul Thomas (born 6 May 1982) is a retired

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 ...

player who played 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) with

Central District Football Club Central District Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Based at Elizabeth in the City of Playford about 25 km to the north of Adelaide, South Australia the club's ...

. He has been announced as their Coach for the 2021 Season. After spending a year on the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

list as a rookie in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Thomas went back to the SANFL where he worked on improving his game, and he won a

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 ...

in 2004. The

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

picked him up in the 2004 AFL Draft but was delisted at the end of the

2005 AFL season The 2005 AFL season was the 109th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

after eight games for Essendon. Thomas returned to Central District in 2006 and was appointed club captain in 2007. He was captain of the Bulldogs winning SANFL Grand Final teams in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. He won his second Norm Russell Medal as Central Districts Best & Fairest in 2009 to add to his 2004 win and in 2008 was named the Bob Quinn Medalist as for his best on ground effort in the SANFL's annual

ANZAC Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

match played at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

between the previous season's grand finalists. On 26 May 2012 Thomas was given the honor of captaining

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

when they defeated

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

by 14 points, 15.11 (101) to 13.9 (87) at Gliderol Stadium @ Glenelg in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. Outside league football, Thomas works at Henley High School, as a P.E. teacher and the football (AFL) Specialist Sport Program coach... Thomas's father Jamie Thomas played 153 games for Central Districts in the 1980s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Paul Essendon Football Club players 1982 births Living people Central District Football Club players Magarey Medal winners Australian rules footballers from South Australia