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Yet in Round 12, 2010, Lindsay Thomas was a one-man wrecking crew as he tore Carlton apart. A look at the stat sheet reveals just how damaging he was that night:
- Led the team in kicks (19)
- Led the team in marks (8)
- Led the team in goals (7)
- Led the team in contested marks (4)
- Led the team in frees for (3)
- Second in tackles (8)
- Second in contested possessions (12)
On the 25th anniversary of North Melbourne's first Friday night game, it was evident from the start Thomas was switched on. With two goals early in the first quarter, he helped North jump out to a 21-point quarter time lead.
Bruce McAvaney called it 'a remarkable half' as the forward kicked his fourth in the shadows of half-time. Little was he to know the Thomas show would continue in spectacular fashion.
As Carlton cut a significant deficit to just eight-points in the third quarter, Thomas would step up once more to swing the momentum back North's way. With the ball in dispute in the forward 50, Thomas laid a heavy bump and then tapped it out to Ben Cunnington.
Working remarkably hard, by the time Cunnington handballed to Levi Greenwood, Thomas made himself available inside 50. He marked, made no mistake from the ensuing set shot and North was away again.
Carlton would not score another goal for the rest of the match.
Thomas would go on to kick two of North's three goals in the last quarter, which bookended a splendid chase down tackle on Heath Scotland to stop a Carlton forward thrust.
While Thomas started with Aaron Joseph on him, over the course of the night he was matched up on Dennis Armfield, Andrew Carrazzo, Jordan Russell and Bret Thornton amongst others. He beat them all on the way to three Brownlow votes, 20 disposals and a career-best game.
