Dale Thomas – Deck of Dream Team 2013

Name: Dale Thomas
Club: Collingwood
Position: Midfield/Forward
Assistant Coach 2013 Price: $480,000
Bye Round: 13
2012 Average: 93.18
2012 Games Played: 17
Predicted Average: 102

Why should I pick him?

Last year Daisy Thomas was widely touted to be a top pick from the start of the season, however, he didn’t fire exactly as expected.  Two of his first three games were in the early 90’s and the other was an 85.  However the problem was that in that third game he got injured and we didn’t see him again until round 8.  After a slow start in that game he only came up with 69, but the following two were 124 and 133.  This is more what we expected to see from him.  7 of his17 games were over 100.  He also had couple in the 90’s. One game though was affected by a red vest which was a33.

Back in 2011 Daisy played 19 games for an average of 102.95.  The year before he played every game and averaged 95.  So last year was his worst for 3 years but it was both injury and red-vest affected.

Let’s be honest, the Collingwood midfield has a vast supply of midfield guns.  As a result their opponents can’t shut down everyone.  With the emergence of Beams, Sidebottom and then already having Swan and Pendlebury in there, there is plenty of chance for Daisy to drift forward and cause some havoc or if Beamer or Swanny are getting tagged out of the game he can swing through the middle and rack up some quick possessions.

Oh, did I not mention that?  Yes, Daisy is a Mid Forward for 2013!  With his team-mates losing this eligibility it makes this guy a lot more attractive than he may have been otherwise.  The reduction in some of our favourite M/F’s this year it makes him one of the more attractive guys.  In addition the fact that he averaged below 100 will mean that he is a little more reasonably priced than guys like Beams.

The key for him is that with those guys coming through for Collingwood means that he can drift forward more often and get those valuable +12’s.  He will have the tall timber to rove to up forward with Cloke’s slippery hands to crumb from and the big Q Stick up there too to bring the ball to ground there will be plenty of opportunistic goals to be found.  During 2012 he averaged just over a goal a game which was his best of his career.  So if he can lift his average disposals back to the 25 it was in 2011 (he averaged 21 in 2012) as well as having that goal a game then 100 should be the minimum I would expect to see out of him.

Why shouldn’t I pick him?

The main reason that I would be concerned about picking Daisy is the aforementioned guys in that Collingwood midfield.  There are plenty of options for the Pies to work the ball through.  The emergence of Dayne Beams and Steele Sidebottom means that they don’t rely on Daisy to get the ball through the midfield and this will hurt his possessions.

Another issue for me is his injury status.  Last year he missed a few games through a hamstring injury he picked up in round 3 vs Carlton.  He will turn 26 during the 2013 season and I am nervous of guys with soft tissue injuries.  Is this enough on its’ own to not select him, no I don’t think so.

Deck of DT Rating.

KING – I think that Daisy is one guy that you have to very seriously consider this year.  He won’t be cheap, but he should be one of the first guys that you consider for your forward line along with some of the other gun mid forwards that are around the place this year.  Personally he will be in my team very early on.

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