Chris Judd is the Brownlow medal favourite but according to St Kilda coach Ross Lyon, right now Dale Thomas is the AFL’s best player.
While Carlton skipper Judd has been widely praised for his inspirational efforts in midfield during the first 10 rounds, Thomas blitzed West Coast on Sunday with a 30-possession game to lead Collingwood to a 52-point win.
The 11th-placed Saints take on Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night in a grand final re-match and Lyon says he’s in awe of 23-year-old midfielder Thomas.
Lyon went along to the MCG on Sunday with assistant coach Robert Harvey.
“I turned to Robert Harvey and I said `geez he is the best player in the competition at the moment’,” Lyon said on Monday.
“He has been outstanding.
“Everyone has talked about (Brendon) Goddard’s finals.
“But what Thomas did in the finals and the grand finals, what he does without the ball, against Adelaide (in round nine), he turned that team around with his fanatical chasing.
“He covers that much territory. He’s unbelievable. I really admire him.
“Not only what he can do with the ball, you saw his left-foot snap (against West Coast).
“But he’ll run from the forward pocket to the back pocket to spoil the ball and get in the way.
“He chases down, he’s really inspirational to watch.”
Thomas was third in Collingwood’s best and fairest behind Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury in 2010 and Lyon faces a difficult task to keep their star-studded midfield quiet.
St Kilda have registered only three victories and a draw from nine games but have strung two wins together over Melbourne and Fremantle.
“Certainly we’ve improved,” Lyon told SEN Radio.
“We have more consistency and greater effort over long periods of the game.
“In a lot of ways West Coast were outstanding. They’re still an emerging team.
“What Collingwood have got is class all over the paddock.
“You make a half-mistake and great teams make you pay and they’ve got that capacity.”
Lyon described the Saints as a different team to last year, pointing to the batch of inexperienced players in the current lineup including Tom Lynch, Nick Winmar, Arryn Siposs, Jack Steven and David Armitage.
“It’s going to be a great challenge for them. They get an opportunity play the best team in the competition,” Lyon said.
The Saints are confident Goddard (neck) and Sean Dempster (concussion) would be fit to play against Collingwood.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
He's a fantastic, however for my money, Judd is the competition's best player, and has been so for some time now.
That's the rumour and he hasn't resigned with Collingwood so it's quite possible.
Lachlan
Roar Guru
Hope he makes a name for himself up north (GWS) ill certainly see more of him :D
The Cattery
Roar Guru
His stats surrounding hard ball gets have increased markedly over the last couple of years. I guess people have a prejudice against the blonde tips!
woodsman
Guest
Dale Thomas then Scott Pendlebury leading Collingwood's best and fairest in my books. Unbelieveable that people would mistake Thomas for being any less than 100% at the ball 100% of the time. Inspirational and red hot form since last year's finals series without break. This is no sudden thing, he has been consistantly working on getting to this fover the last three years. Best in the League? Massive call whoever you name, but he is certainly in the absolute top tier across the board.
JamesP
Guest
Mind games...
Yes he is a very good player and exciting to watch. He was the second player picked in my dream team after Dane Swan.