Lindsay Thomas agrees, reputations are made in finals. But while the small forward hasn’t had a great showing, held goalless, in his two September appearances thus far, he knows he’s a much different player now.

In his third consecutive season of averaging at least two goals a game, the 28-year-old says he’s grown on and off the field and can’t wait to step back onto the big stage on Saturday night.

"That's where names are made, in finals games," Thomas told Fairfax Media at North’s open media session.

"Obviously I was only a kid back in 2008 and I was pretty immature back in 2012. Since then, I feel as though I've matured as a player and as a person. I've had my challenges over the years. Obviously 2011 was a pretty tough year for me, it was well documented, with my kicking – my goalkicking, especially – but when people talk about it now, it doesn't really faze me because I trust in my ability to be able to play well when I have to ... in the past couple of years I've proven that."

Since those hard times, his accuracy has been dramatically transformed, to a conversion rate of 68 per cent.

"A few years ago I wasn't the forwards coach then but maybe you'd look away and hope they went through. Now you just go 'OK, pencil that one in'," Forward coach Shane Watson said.

Thomas has booted 39 goals this year and has been held goalless only twice.

"It is a hard role to play, so the thing he works on first is his defensive pressure," Watson explained.

"He just feels as if his work rate and his defensive pressure is good then it generally converts to some shots on goal.

"In the past, he'd have games where he'd kick five or seven, and then he'd kick zero or one. It seems, with that [defensive-first] focus, he's kicked a lot of ones or twos – I think his maximum has been four – so his 'bad' games are not that bad any more. He's getting double-figure possessions, he's tackling a lot more.

"That [occasional big goal kicking haul] could potentially win big games off your own boot now and again, but the consistency is where it's at."

Thomas says having a player of Drew Petrie’s ability around him helps make the job a lot easier.

"Obviously you create your own luck, but I've got a lot of good players around me to support me," he said.