2014 has been a disaster for The Artist Formerly Known as Daisy. In his first year at Carlton, Dale Thomas has become a national punchline.
His second-rate performances have been made all the worse by his very public and very over-priced $700K contract. Watching Thomas play in 2014 has been like watching season nine of Seinfeld – mediocrity made so much worse by the knowledge that it used to be so much better.
At least the last season of Seinfeld still had some quality gags. There are few silver linings for Thomas. To call him a shell of himself would be to give him too much credit; he’s aspiring to be a shell of himself.
The explosive pace, the improvisational genius and most importantly, the infectious dare and swagger in his play are nowhere to be seen. Thomas’s kicking has always ranged from average to suspect, and without his athletic advantages he’s become a depressingly ordinary footballer.
Thomas was once a creative spark-plug in the vein of Cyril Rioli, the type of player where every time he got the ball there was the tantalising possibility of something special happening.
Now he’s distressingly conventional. His Round 19 game against Fremantle was his best as a Carlton player. He was solid all match, popping up around stoppages and launching attacks out of defence with the underrated class and composure that he’s always had. But there was no magic in his performance. There was no explosion and no excitement. There was no Daisy.
The beauty of Thomas in his prime was his juxtaposition of flash and grit. He was a highlight reel unto himself, taking hangers and kicking goals from impossible angles on a near weekly basis.
While his taste for the spectacular made him a national star, what made him so endearing to Collingwood fans was his work when no one was looking. Daisy was the best two-way runner in the competition, an aerobic beast with an insatiable appetite for the contest.
He was the master of the chase-down tackle, with his gut-running embarrassing countless unaware opponents. I don’t know how many times I sat at the MCG and marvelled at Daisy sprinting from a forward pocket into the defensive half of the ground simply to lay a shepherd for a teammate or a tackle on an opponent.
Such was his application that he made the utterly unspectacular look spectacular. He was as courageous as any player in the competition; a dreadlocked kamikaze who threw his body at the contest with no regard for his physical wellbeing.
As flashy as he could be, at his core he was a gritty hard-worker, something that made him as endearing to Collingwood fans as any player on the list.
So, what happened to this version of Thomas? Where did the ‘Daisy’ go?
The easy answer is injuries, which have robbed him of his explosiveness, but the real answer might simply be age. There was a youthful exuberance that was synonymous with the way he played the game, and without it he’s become painfully ordinary. As a player edges towards his thirties – Thomas is 27 – pace and athleticism inevitably decline and adaptation becomes essential.
Thomas’s captain Chris Judd lost his elite explosiveness at 25 and adapted himself into a hard-nosed inside midfielder. While nobody is doubting Thomas’s toughness, it’s hard to see him recapturing his past glory without his special athleticism.
At his best, Thomas played football like he was a headless chicken in a pinball machine – operating at a frenetic pace, bouncing off of opponents and doing everything with an endearing mania. Age has taken away his ability to play at that pace and he’s lost his identity in the process.
Once an above the rim, electric aerial player, Thomas has become depressingly grounded. If he wants to remain relevant he’s going to have to carve out a new identity for himself, because ‘Daisy’ is seemingly dead.
If Dale Thomas retires tomorrow he will have had a pretty good career. He’s a premiership player, All-Australian and finished third in a best and fairest in a club’s premiership season.
Across Collingwood’s three grand finals in 2010 and 2011 Thomas was the Pies’ best player by a long shot. Collingwood fans have been quick to turn on their one time cult hero but hopefully future years will bring them some perspective.
At just 27, Thomas still has plenty of time to turn things around. Hopefully he can prove me and the doubters wrong. However, until that time comes or it doesn’t, we will just have to be content with the memory of what he once was, the memory of ‘Daisy’.
Tiarne Swersky
Roar Guru
Could not agree more about holding onto Eddie Betts. He has definitely proven his value this season with the Crows. As is well documented, perhaps Malthouse didn't quite know what he was getting himself into with the state of Carlton's list. I guess we will have to wait and see if he resigns. Cameron Woods is an interesting one - he is getting another chance. Let's see if he can develop into the #1 ruckman for Carlton, as Warnock has been up and down ever since he arrived at Carlton.
Macca
Guest
Thomas with 16 possessions, 8 marks and a goal to half time against the suns following on from his 29 touches last week, as I said a bit early to judge.
Macca
Guest
"H-Mac:first year abject failure. Paying off now tho. Rivers: started off fine, got injured, never really got it right until the offseason. Fits in like a beauty now tho." Exactly my point Gene if you judged both those recruting decisions after 1 year they would have been classed as failures but players aren't recruited for 1 year and once those players got their bodies right (and a full pre-season) they started having a massive impact for your club - Thomas will be the same and last weeks game against Freo demonstrates what he is still capable of. Also how many games has Thomas played as a defensive forward this year? How many centre bounces has he contested? The fact is he has been nursed through this year a fair bit.
Cat
Roar Guru
"Finally how should we judge Geelongs decision to recruit Hamish McIntosh or Jared Rivers?" H-Mac:first year abject failure. Paying off now tho. Rivers: started off fine, got injured, never really got it right until the offseason. Fits in like a beauty now tho.
Macca
Guest
This year he is going at 73% Effective disposals and lsat week had 23 effective disposal out of 29 for 79% - pretty respectable figures.
andyl12
Guest
He was never known for his disposal either- stuffed up a lot of easy kicks. I also wonder how far he would've gotten had he not had long blonde hair, I think that made him an overhyped cult figure.
Macca
Guest
He wasn't going to be available any other year so they took the risk of a bit of a loss this year for future returns. The blues are also on record saying they didn't expect him to play before about round 4 or 5 but they ended up playing him earlier and it isn't much of a stretch to suggest that someone who missed most of last year with an ankle injury and missed a significant portion of the preseason due to ankle surgery isn't 100% fit. You can judge him all you like, just keep things in perspective. Finally how should we judge Geelongs decision to recruit Hamish McIntosh or Jared Rivers?
Cat
Roar Guru
so should his 700k a yr paycheck be reserved until this time next year too? He's being paid big dollars to produce, he claims to be 100% fit, the coach decided to play him straight away and keep playing him despite the fact that his form for much of the season says he should have been in the reserves, so I think it is fair to judge him as being overrated and overpaid this year. If he does something different next year, we'll judge it differently next year.
Macca
Guest
I am with Carl - Wood has been pretty impresive in his 2 games, his ability to be a marking option Warnock wasn't has helped the KPP's and the strutures immensely.
Macca
Guest
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Macca
Guest
I think this article is very premature (and perversely a week too late). People forget just how limited a pre-season Thomas had this year and at just turned 27 (21st of June) he has plenty of time to make an impact at the blues and if he puts in more games like his 29 possession (24 kicks), 12 mark game against Freo last week the nay sayers will be soon proved wrong. I think judgemnt should be reserved until this time next year.
Carl
Roar Rookie
Bit hard on Cam Wood, just because he made a mistake in a game doesn't mean he was a waste of a recruit. Got to remember in that Freo game he was a big lanky ruckman trying to do the job that Simpson or Gibbs should have been doing, meanwhile those two were 10 metres away manning empty space. Everybody always says ruckmen bloom later in their careers than every one else which puts Carlton in a (theoreically) good position with Wood as he should just be hitting that mark around now.
Cat
Roar Guru
Swan, Pendlebury even Luke Ball were more important that year. Even if you wanted to stretch it to include that entire season, thats one season out of his 9 year career where's he's been above B or C grade. I think its simply a case of an average player being made to look better by being in a great side.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Maybe he's just been overdoing it whilst filming and promoting the Inbetweeners sequel...
slane
Guest
I have to disagree Gene. In their premiership year I would have Daisy as their most important player. I have nothing but contempt for Collingwood but it was pretty obvious that Daisy was the hardest worker at the club. Nobody attacked the ball at every opportunity as ferociously as he did. He ran opponents into the ground every week. Now he has lost that run and lost that ferocity. Cheetahs don't run with a full belly. 2010 satisfied Daisy's appetite and he hasn't been hungry since.
Cat
Roar Guru
I'd suggest it was a simple case of he was never that good to begin with. Had he not done a dozen commercials and played for the biggest footy club the media/fans would have never overhyped him the way they did, his entire 'career' is pretty much an 8 week purple patch, the rest of it is B grade.
Olivia Watts
Roar Guru
I think Thomas is in the famous "Top Gun" situation of "writing cheques his body can't cash". It has become all too evident that those who wrote him off because of the severity of his ankle injury were probably astute judges. I believe his body simply no longer heeds the instructions his mind gives it (and, as someone with Multiple Sclerosis, I very much sympathise) and no amount of hard training or will power will change that. I'd suggest Thomas takes a leaf out of the play book of former teammate Luke Ball who, on transfer to Collingwood, ceased trying to be the star midfielder and reinvented himself as a specific role player. I could see Thomas performing the Ryan Crowley/Luke Hodge shutdown role with great effect, so long as he accepted he would no longer be the team superstar ( though Hodge manages to be both, it must be said). If he adopted this role he could then be judged on how well he does what he can do, rather than against expectations of what supporters feel he should do. The supporters need to accept that those things are just no longer possible and put all their support behind Daisy Mk. II.
KenAgain
Guest
Waste of money. We should have held onto Eddie Betts @ $500K and kept on the lookout. Add Malthouse, Cameron Woods and the Coaching recruitment of Malthouse and the decisions surrounding it will keep costing Carlton for a decade...
Paul D
Roar Guru
It's always tough for players who change clubs to recapture the same form, and then you throw in the injuries he's had - I think he's doing alright, given the circumstances. It's not his fault Carlton were silly enough to pay massive overs for the player he was, rather than the player he now is.
Nick Butler
Roar Guru
Thomas is good enough to have an impact for Carlton in year to come should his body hold out and he be able to complete an uninterrupted pre season. The blues certainly paid overs for him but he can still be a good wing half forward option in his later years. As a collingwood fan I think the fans weren't bitter so much as disappointed that he left for an arch rival who clearly are further away from success that the pies potentially are... But with this new world of free agency he can't be blamed. I certainly hold him in high regard for his deeds in the black and white his 2010 season was incredible and he was a star of the league!