The 2015 season is over for Carlton’s Dale Thomas with the midfielder set to undergo shoulder surgery on Sunday.
According to the Blues the shoulder injury Thomas suffered just minutes into the season-opener against Richmond has flared up again.
“His shoulder hasn’t been right ever since the first tackle of the first game at the start of the season and the last couple of games it actually slipped out,” said Carlton football manage Andrew McKay.
“We had some advice from the specialist yesterday and came to the conclusion that he needs a shoulder reconstruction, so he’s having that done tomorrow.
“It’s really unfortunate for Dale, and certainly disappointing for us, that he will be out for the rest of the season. But this way at least we will be able to get him fit and get him right before the start of the pre-season for 2016 to give him the best opportunity to play some really good footy next year.”
It’s not been an easy couple of weeks for Thomas who is also currently in a moon boot recovering from a stress reaction in his toe.
This latest injury adds more woe to what has been a disastrous season for Carlton to date.
The Blues have lacked competitiveness in most of their performances so far for the year and sit in last place on the AFL ladder with a 1-9 record.
They sacked legendary coach Mick Malthouse a few weeks ago following a string of poor performances and a fiery appearance on the radio, and just last week lost superstar Chris Judd to retirement following an ACL injury.
Club captain Marc Murphy and last year’s Best and Fairest winner Bryce Gibbs have also struggled to stay fit and on the field.
For Thomas it’s the latest in a long line of injuries that have derailed his career in recent years.
The former Magpie, taken at pick #2 in the same draft as Marc Murphy, Josh J Kennedy and Scott Pendlebury, was a key member of Collingwood’s 2010 premiership side.
He then went on to have an excellent 2011 season in which his form was so good that then St Kilda coach Ross Lyon at one point labelled him a contender to be considered the best player in the game.
However an ankle injury in 2013 saw him play only five games that year and at the end of the season he signed with the Carlton Blues, following mentor Mick Malthouse to the club.
While he played most of the 2014 season his form was average throughout and eventually his year was ended by a knee injury.
Now for the third year in a row his season is ended early by injury, which must lead to more and more doubt about whether or not he can ever return to his best form.
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