A Mascot junior, Thomas started his NSWRL career with South Sydney, playing as a lock forward.
[citation needed] From 1991 to 1993, he played for Western Suburbs and while at the club made two representative appearances for NSW City.
[4] Thomas's elderly mother Mary died in 2010 of head injuries sustained when she fell to the ground after being assaulted by a cyclist on an Eastlakes street.
The attacker, Daniel Paul Wood, had got off his bike after passing the 71-year old and walked back 10-metres to push her in the chest, an altercation brought about by his belief she had been in his way.
Wood, who was intoxicated, was charged with murder, but the court accepted a guilty plea for manslaughter, sentencing him to five-years in prison.