“HOPEFULLY I can make up for the couple of years where I wasn’t out on the park or wasn’t delivering my best.”

After his best season in Navy Blue last year, Dale Thomas has spoken of his desire to repay the faith and play the consistent football which has defined his last 12 months.

Having finished in the top five of the John Nicholls Medal for the first time in 2018, Thomas was one of Carlton’s prime movers in the season opener against Richmond.

With his opening years at Carlton interrupted or erased through injury, the veteran — speaking on SEN — said the issues with his ankles were hopefully a thing of the past.

“When you lose the ability to run, change direction, jump and kick — that’s what our game is based on. I was convincing myself as much as anyone that I could do it,” Thomas said.

The team is in.



A milestone for a new Blue, while we've made one change to the line-up. #BoundByBlue — Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) March 28, 2019

“The surgeries I had, they basically cut the inside and outside of my ankles and sewed them back together. With that, I lost a lot of power — it was like hitting a tennis ball with a thong.

“I think I’m kicking the ball now as well as I ever have.”

However, it wasn’t just on the field where Thomas was affected.

Thomas spoke of his frustration off-field during those years, when the game that he loved and provided a release almost became “the thing I hated more than anything else going on”.

“Football was the one thing growing up which I had to fall back on. I loved doing it, I was able to be free,” he said.

View this post on Instagram Fair enough, @dthomas_39... #BoundByBlue A post shared by Carlton Football Club (@carlton_fc) on Feb 3, 2019 at 2:33pm PST

“I tried to pretend everything was alright and all I wanted to do was play good footy. It meant I worked harder and hoped that was the way out.

“I probably needed to go an deal with how it was affecting me on a personal level. Hard work and putting your head down and bum up doesn’t work every time.”

Thomas also spoke of his work with the headspace campaign and the decision to remove a clause in his contract back in 2017.

“I understood as much as anyone the position the Club was in because of the deal that was signed… I knew I wasn’t going to be worth it if I limped to the line.”

For his full comments in the in-depth interview, watch the video above.