While Thomas was delighted his side was able to find a way to win a game it looked set to lose nearly all day - with the Bombers having led from the start of the game until the 11 minute mark of the final term - he said the close shave would also give his players added motivation for future weeks.
Thomas admitted he drove home to his players after the game what the consequences would have been for the club had they lost to an Essendon side that has now equalled the worst losing run in its history - 14 successive defeats.
"I asked the players after the game to contemplate the consequences if we didn’t finish in front - the pain and the hurt and you can drop your self-esteem quickly if you don't get over the line in those games."
Continuing "the loss we had to have without having a loss" theme, Thomas said the shock of almost being beaten by the favourites for this year's wooden spoon should ensure no similar lapses in coming weeks.
"In some ways it gives the players the chance to regroup and understand the importance of (maintaining our) concentration, discipline and effort."
"It's good for our club to go through that."
"If we had been better through parts of the game and won by four of five goals, there would have been a bit of falseness to that."
But while Thomas is hoping the lucky escape against the Bombers will ensure his team remains switched-on for the rest of the season, he was full of praise for the way they were able to fashion a win despite trailing nearly all game.
"I just think that was the sort of game that St Kilda has lost for a long time," he said.
"But great credit to our group to rally and win the last half and finish with our noses in front and we produced a fair bit of grit in the end."
Thomas paid special tribute to the efforts of Nick Riewoldt and Robert Harvey, who were the only Saints to perform at their best for all four quarters.
Riewoldt kicked two crucial goals from set shots in the final term while 34-year-old Harvey was inspirational, despite copping a heavy blow to the face from Adam McPhee early in the game which saw the Essendon defender reported.
Thomas said Harvey was a fantastic role model for the club's younger players in the way he just keeps forging on, regardless of the circumstances.
"You don't want to lose a player of his ability but we got told pretty quickly that he had just had his nose re-arranged and was able to continue to play," Thomas said of Harvey's clash with McPhee.
"You have got to be resilient to play for 18 years and go through what he has gone through (during his career) and he is a great role model for our playing group and an ornament to the game in the way he goes about it."
