SUSPENDED Collingwood star Dale Thomas is unlikely to head to Arizona during the enforced break from a two-match suspension despite the fact he may not be required to play until preliminary final weekend.
Thomas accepted his two-match penalty for rough conduct against Fremantle's Garrick Ibbotson on Tuesday, which means he will miss Friday night's round 24 clash with Geelong at the MCG and the Magpies' first final.
The Magpies are guaranteed to finish on top of the ladder and are likely to play West Coast in a home qualifying final in a fortnight.
If Collingwood wins that, it will progress straight through to the preliminary final, meaning Thomas could potentially go three weekends without any football.
Despite the mid-season trip to Arizona that benefitted Dane Swan, Darren Jolly and Brent Macaffer, and Heath Shaw's recent trip that saw him lose five kilograms and keep up his fitness during an eight-week suspension for betting, the Pies are unlikely to send Thomas overseas this week.
"I think there's a few too many variables in that. When we sent Heath, he was out for eight weeks and 'Daisy' is a shorter time," club director of football Geoff Walsh said on Tuesday.
"We certainly know we've got round 24, we know we've got week one of the finals in terms of the sequence, but in terms of result we don't know when our next game is after that.
"That, coupled with the fact there's a certain minimum time you should spend in Arizona to get the benefits according to our sports scientists, it's probably a bit of a long bow at this stage."
Ultimately, Walsh said the possibility of Thomas' suspension extending to three weeks had been considered too big a risk to challenge the case at the tribunal.
"I think you need to weigh up all the circumstances in an individual case. When there's times under the system there might not be too much downside, when you can go to the tribunal and if your case doesn't get up, your penalty remains the same," he said.
"That wasn't the case in this situation. The downside would have been the three matches that the penalty originally incurred.
"That's a pretty hefty gamble if you like, so we didn't really at any stage seriously consider it."
Walsh said the club was realistic about how the match review panel worked and were not frustrated by Thomas' costly sanction, which was worsened by his previous poor record and carry-over demerit points.
"I think the match review panel system and the way they operate has stood up to the test of time," he said.
"When each club is asked has the match review panel worked in general, has it been a good thing rather than a bad thing, I think most clubs, or all clubs I would think, would answer in the positive."
Thomas remains unsigned beyond the end of this season and has been frequently suggested as a target of incoming club Greater Western Sydney in recent months.
Walsh said while Thomas was yet to officially put pen to paper, despite club president Eddie McGuire stating last week he was on the verge of signing, he believed it was only a matter of time until the intricacies of the extension were ironed out.
"We meet with [Thomas' manager] Paul Connors regularly and I think in principle we're not far away," he said.
"Have we come to an agreement as we speak? No. Am I confident as I've said all along, yes that will happen, is it sooner rather than later, I think both parties are hopeful.
"Both parties, if they're going to put their name to a piece of paper they need to be happy with it."
In other Collingwood news, Walsh said Chris Dawes pulled up well from his first game since round 15, captain Nick Maxwell had come along quickly over the last week or so and could be back "sooner rather than later", and Sharrod Wellingham would train on Tuesday and was expected to be available to return from a groin injury for the clash with the Cats.
Jennifer Witham covers Collingwood news for the AFL Website. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
