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Lindsay Thomas' career is over

20th June, 2017
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Lindsay Thomas is hardly the sole proponent, but he's made headlines (sorry) for receiving frees from head-high tackles this season. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
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20th June, 2017
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A four-week suspension in the VFL is a big punishment, especially for an out-of-touch footballer such as North Melbourne’s Lindsay Thomas.

After an up-and-down 2016 season, Thomas came into this year looking to prove he still belongs in the 22-man squad at North.

He started in the senior side for the first five games, but only kicked two goals and six behinds.

Thomas has been given every opportunity at senior level through his career, but has been one of the most inconsistent small forwards of the past 20 years. What has gone in his favour is that after a bad year or two, he has a standout year and proved to Brad Scott that he deserves to be in top flight.

But Thomas has not had a decent year since 2013, when he booted 53 goals, nearly earning an All Australian honour.

Now North are going through a semi-rebuild phase, having turfed club legends Brent Harvey and Drew Petrie, solid 13-year veteran Michael Firrito, and gun recruit Nick Dal Santo.

This year, saw small forwards such as Jy Simpkin and Kayne Turner have proven themselves main stayers, leaving Thomas out of the mix.

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Give every opportunity this year to prove his worth, Thomas has made a meal of it, getting dropped and then suspended for four games in the VFL. Even if Scott decided to drop either Simpkin or Turner, he wouldn’t have the luxury of calling upon Thomas to fill the void.

To put salt in the wound for North, in his comeback game from suspension, Thomas found himself in strife once again, getting suspended for an annoying one game.

This has seen North Melbourne change from a three-man tall forward line, to having Jarrad Waite and Ben Brown surrounded by the likes of young medium-forward Mason Wood, and small forwards Simpkin and Turner.

But even if Simpkin or Turner were dropped or injured, I would not recall Thomas. You would get more competitiveness from yet-to-debut tall half forward Ben Mckay or overlooked big man Majak Daw.

Daw is good around the ground, can do 30-40 per cent in the ruck and genuinely contest in the air. He creates a great target but also a good decoy for Waite or Brown.

Another choice would be the young brute-force Brayden Preuss, who could walk straight into a full-time ruck or full forward position. This would also free up Todd Goldstein to play some dangerous time up forward.

With the Kangaroos going through a rebuild, and a lot of free cap space at the end of this year, as well as numerous draft picks, the club will be looking to land a few big fish.

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At 29 years old, Thomas offers only inconsistency and hot-headed acts.

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