‘Daisy’ landed at Visy Park amid a mass of speculation about his troublesome ankle. Would it hold up? Would he play out the year? Would he play at all?
But it didn’t take long for Thomas to silence the critics. The lively midfielder exceeded all expectations by running out for his first match in the navy blue in Carlton’s Round 1 clash with Port Adelaide.
Just minutes into the opening term Thomas collected a handball from fellow new recruit Andrejs Everitt, then on the run he booted Carlton’s first goal for season 2014.
Despite the promising start, it wasn’t until Round 5 that Daisy was finally watered with an infamous Blues’ Gatorade shower.
“It was obviously a tough start to the year for us losing the first four games,” Thomas said.
“But towards the back half of the year the boys really banded together and found some form.”
Of his own season Thomas said he was always confident he would overcome the ankle injury and enjoy plenty of game time. But he concedes it was several months before he really hit his straps.
“It took a little bit of time, obviously just adapting to the way the boys played, and the game plan as well,” Thomas said.
“But I was fortunate enough to play 20-odd games on end, so that little bit of continuity certainly fast-tracked the process, and hopefully that will also help going into next year.”
Thomas finished his first season at Carlton with 20 games, 12 goals and an average of 17.2 disposals per game. The highlight of his season came in the five-point loss to Fremantle in Round 19, where he gathered 29 disposals and took 12 marks.
