Matt Thomas (Australian rules footballer)

Matt Thomas
Personal information
Full name	Matt Thomas
Date of birth	27 February 1987 (1987-02-27) (age 24)
Original team	Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup)
Draft	#8, 2006 Pre-Season Draft, Port Adelaide
Height/Weight	186cm / 87kg
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Port Adelaide
Number	21
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2006–	Port Adelaide	68 (21)
1 Playing statistics to end of 2011 season .

Matt Thomas (born 27 February 1987) is an Australian rules footballer, who currently plays for Port Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). Recruited at pick number 8 in the 2006 Pre-season Draft from Sandringham, he has become known as a tough player. He can play as either a defender or a midfielder. Because he was drafted from outside South Australia, Thomas was placed in the SANFL internal draft, which lets clubs choose which players they recruit when the said player is not playing for their South Australia AFL team. He was picked up by Norwood, and made his debut in the third round of the SANFL, against Woodville-West Torrens. He ended up playing 10 games for norwood through the 2006 season, and scored one goal.

In 2006, after a few years of dominance, Port Adelaide struggled and realised that they would not make the finals. They started to blood some youth, and Thomas was called in to make his AFL debut in round 14 against Richmond, after some impressive mid-season form with Norwood in the SANFL. His first kick in AFL football resulted in a goal, although Port Adelaide lost the match by 38 points. He was kept in the side that played Geelong the next week, and scored another goal. He then played another six games for the year, playing eight in total and kicking three goals. In the showdown match against Adelaide in Round 21, Thomas was involved in an incident with Adelaide's Trent Hentschel. Hentschel gathered the ball and was about to kick for goal, when Thomas laid a tackle, forcing Hentschel's knee to be pushed in sideways, requiring a knee reconstruction.

In 2007, Thomas spent time in hospital, after complications from having his appendix removed. He lost 15 kg in just two weeks, after an abdominal infection following his appendix removal. It was so severe that he had a section of his intestine removed.^[1]

In 2007, he played just four games for Port Adelaide, from round 6 to 9.

References

1. ^ Vaughan, Joanna (January 12, 2007). "Scar reminds Matt of big loss". Herald Sun. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21046306-11088,00.html. 

External links

• Port Adelaide Football Club Player Profile
• Norwood Football Club Player Profile
• Matt Thomas (Australian rules footballer)'s statistics from AFL Tables

Persondata
Name	Thomas, Matt
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 February 1987
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death