Snapped up by Collingwood at number two overall in the 2005 NAB AFL National Draft, Thomas knows he has a lot of work to do this pre-season, but he has been pleasantly surprised by his progress.
"I'm a bit further along than I thought I'd be - I did a bit of work after draft camp - it's coming along well, I've run some good times and hopefully I can keep getting fitter," Thomas says.
"I've always been a pretty light-on fella, so they reckon I've got to put on a couple of kilos so I can get to a weight where they would consider playing me."
The prevailing wisdom on draft day had Thomas' Gippsland Power team-mate Xavier Ellis being taken by the Pies at number two, but a best-on-ground performance in the TAC Cup grand final by the small forward/onballer put him over the top.
So does being taken so high in the draft bring any extra pressure?
"I never really thought about it like that, I'm just trying to get out there and do my best and put my best foot forward," he replies after a moment's thought.
"Draft day was a bit of a blur - I wasn't expecting to go number two at all. Rumour had it that I might have gone number five to the Pies and I was just sitting there expecting Xavier's name to get read out, but then they called out my name and I was whisked away and put in the Pies gear.
"Eddie McGuire was over pretty quickly and stuck a Pies' shirt on me."
As laid back as Thomas comes across, he admits to feeling a little daunted walking into the Lexus Centre for the first time.
"The first day especially, I got in there and this bloke comes along and says, 'how you going, I'm Nathan Buckley', and I'm like, 'oh really?'," he says with a laugh.
"It's pretty daunting coming into an AFL football club, but I'm just trying to work hard and earn the respect of the boys.
"All the blokes have been really good and really made us feel at home - it's been great like that."
But it's not just training alongside some AFL legends that he's had to get used to.
"It's definitely a whole lifestyle (change) - not just the footy side of it and how much you're training - but also what you're eating and they're monitoring everything," he says.
Thomas was drafted as more of a long-term prospect and was generally regarded prior to the draft as unlikely to feature prominently at senior level in his first year, but that hasn't stopped him harbouring a desire to make his AFL debut.
"I'd love to play a senior game," he admits.
"I don't know if I will, but I'll work hard over the pre-season and try and put a bit of size on - I'll definitely be trying to get a game.
"The intensity's stepped right up after Christmas and apparently that's going to be the tune for the rest of the pre-season, so hopefully we can get stuck right into it and expect big things this year."
