Dale Thomas grew up in Drouin with his mother Kaye, father Darryl, and his sister Jessica.

His mother was dedicated to her children's sporting dreams; she kicked footballs with Dale and shot netballs with sister Jessica.

In Collingwood's round two win against Hawthorn gathered twenty disposals and was nominated for the 2006 AFL Rising Star award.

[10] Thomas returned to play in Collingwood's defeat in the 2006 First Elimination Final to the Western Bulldogs, where he took a spectacular mark on the shoulders of an opponent.

[11] Thomas became so popular in his first season of AFL that guernseys bearing his name sold twice as many as the then captain, Nathan Buckley, at the club's merchandise shop.

[1] During 2007, Thomas was played in a variety of positions including a regular role in the midfield and the forward line, and also instances in defence.

Highlights of the 2007 season came during a match against the Sydney Swans where Collingwood was considered underdogs with a depleted defence.

His runs down the ground in the Semi-Final and Preliminary Final are considered some of the most important plays in the Pies' win against West Coast and close loss against Geelong.

Thomas began his 2008 campaign with style in Round 1 of the 2008 NAB Cup in Dubai, where he took a "specky" on the shoulders of his Adelaide opponent.

[14] Upon being named, he said: "It would be fantastic to play in the match, because it's the first time State of Origin has been back for a while, and I remember growing up watching it on the telly so it would be great to be a part of.

"Thomas endured a heavily-publicised "form slump", the first of his career, after poor performances against North Melbourne, Essendon and Hawthorn, and averaging only 13 disposals.

[15] He returned after the Hall of Fame break by defying his critics with a 21-disposal game, playing mostly on St Kilda's Nick Dal Santo.

Thomas was also a star against St Kilda following a horror week at Collingwood, and collected 22 disposals (thirteen contested), kicked a goal, took a "screamer" and also a courageous mark running back with the flight of the ball.

Thomas injured his knee against Port Adelaide in Round 20, after landing awkwardly in a marking contest during the third quarter.

According to Collingwood official Greg Walsh, Thomas had developed bleeding and swelling on the back of his calf, but was in contention to play the following week.

He collected 20 disposals and kicked one goal within seconds of the three-quarter-time siren from the fifty-metre arc, which he later described as a "fluke".

Thomas was selected to represent Australia in the 2008 International Rules Series, alongside teammate Scott Pendlebury and many other AFL stars.

In the second he showed the Irish how he plays the game flying high for a mark but unfortunately not holding the unfamiliar round ball.

"[26] Thomas vehemently denied these rumours on his blog saying "I want to be the first to say that while the weather and lifestyle would certainly appeal to me, I don’t think that will be happening!

Thomas completed this job successfully keeping Drummond to a below-average 15 possessions and was key to Collingwood beating Brisbane.

A week later Thomas returned to his usual form and picked up 18 possessions against Melbourne in the Queen's Birthday clash.

After losing a bit of his good form after returning from injury, Thomas tore apart the round 13 match against Fremantle.

After spending time in the midfield Thomas was once again put in the forward line to play his natural game.

While he didn't get a lot of possessions against St Kilda in the first week of the finals, his desperation and commitment to winning the game was outstanding.

This was summed up in typical Dale Thomas fashion after receiving a heavy bump from Brendon Goddard he got straight back up and took a courageous mark to kick an inspiring goal.

[32] He also came up 3rd in Collingwood's best and fairest count, pulling up short of fellow stars Dane Swan (1st) and Scott Pendlebury (2nd).

He decided to test the free agency waters and agreed to a four-year deal to play with the Carlton Football Club.

[34] On 9 October 2013, Collingwood announced that they would not match the offer the Blues had made to Thomas, making his move to Carlton official.

Thomas also played a game for the Northern Blues in the 2019 VFL season after being dropped from the Carlton side.

[38] He was in an ad for Mainland Cheese Bites with teammates Shane Wakelin, Alan Didak and Brodie Holland.