POWER tough nut Matt Thomas has long been considered club stalwart Michael Wilson’s protégé at Alberton, but the gutsy onballer is hopeful he can avoid one of his traits.
Vulnerability to injury.
Thomas, whose ferocity and fearless approach to the contest has been compared to Wilson, has spent a lot of the season with his mentor on the sidelines.
The 21-year-old, who suffered life-threatening complications from an appendectomy in November 2006, has managed just nine games in the past two years and could miss the rest of this season with stress fractures in his foot.
But Thomas, buoyed by consolation from Wilson and coaches Matthew Primus, Daniel Healy and Darren Trevena, is confident his luck will turn around.
"My short-term goal is just to get back on track, try and train and, if I could play again this year, that would be great," Thomas said.
"If not, I’ll have to take it easy and get ready for pre-season. I’ll probably start a bit earlier and get a bit of a jump on the rest of the competition.
"My long-term goal would then be to string more than four games together and try and establish myself in the side, which is what I aimed to do this year, but without much luck."
Four has been the Victorian’s bogey number since he played seven straight matches in his debut season of 2006, but injury isn't the only thing that has cost Thomas game time.
His physical attack has seen him suspended twice in the past 18 months.
"Over the last two years, you’ve had to change the way you play because of the rule changes and how the tribunal have assessed and become more strict on certain incidents," Thomas said.
"I’m definitely becoming more careful and my hits are becoming less frequent because I don’t want to get reported.
"It is taking a bit of sting of out my game, but I’m not going to change the way I play because of that.
"If anything, I’ll just be a bit more careful. If I don’t have the ball, I will hesitate to make contact now, but if I’ve got the ball, it’s a green light I suppose."
Thomas, who grew up playing footy alongside Hawks Xavier Ellis and Tom Murphy and Cat Tom Hawkins, has tried to make the most of his extended stint on the sidelines with regular educational trips to Melbourne.
"Phil Walsh does all our game analysis and I’ve had three or four trips to Melbourne this year, in the time I’ve had off, and watched other teams play," Thomas said.
"I’ve watched how some of the best players in the competition get possessions and I’ve tried to learn a bit about the game because there are certain things you can’t pick up when you’re put there on the field."
