Jolly, a premiership ruckman with the Sydney Swans in 2005, made his way to the Lexus Centre in the off-season and is the only player on Collingwood’s list to achieve the ultimate success.
Thomas said that since Jolly had arrived at the club, he had been sharing his opinions on what the group needed to do to win a premiership after being eliminated in the semi-finals (2008) and the preliminary finals (2009).
“He’s been there, and he’s really voiced his opinions since he got down to the club on what it takes to go that extra step,” Thomas told BigPond Sports Weekend on Saturday.
“We’ve been thereabouts the last couple of years and hopefully the acquisition of [Jolly and Luke Ball] can really help us.
“We’ve got the desire and we’ve put in the hard yards. At this time of year there’s no reason why we can’t be thereabouts again.”
Former Saint Ball doesn’t bring premiership experience with him after last year’s disappointment, but Thomas said the tough midfielder had led by example with his professionalism.
The young Magpie added that the reasons for Ball’s departure from Moorabbin were misunderstood.
“There’s been a bit of huff and puff from St Kilda [but] from what he says you wouldn’t buy too much into that,” Thomas said.
“He’s gone about his footy, he’s pumped to be at the Pies and get a realistic chance to be the best footballer he can be.
“That’s what he’s all about - it’s not about money - it’s about the team and bettering himself and Collingwood.
“He is a professional, he does everything to make sure his body is 100 per cent and when he plays the game he’s hard at it - he’s exactly what we need in there.”
The third of Collingwood’s high-profile off-season acquisitions was off-field, and Thomas said former captain Nathan Buckley’s return to the club was already paying off.
Buckley will be an assistant under coach Mick Malthouse for the next two seasons before assuming the No.1 job for the 2012 campaign, and Thomas said there was no confusion as to who was in charge.
“Bucks is the forward line coach this year, so I think it’s been pretty clear that he’s not the coach,” he said. “Mick’s certainly been pretty quick to hit that nail on the head.
“Bucks has been fantastic and everyone knows what sort of knowledge of football he has.
“He’s really helped a lot of the young guys coming in playing different roles [with] his ideas about the game.”
Dale Thomas is a $336,300 forward in this year's Toyota AFL Dream Team.
Darren Jolly is a $381,500 ruckman.
