AS A host of big names made their way into the Albury Sportsground over the summer, there was one recruit who slipped quietly under the radar.
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While Daniel Cross, Josh Mellington and Shaun Daly deservedly attracted the headlines when they joined the Tigers, Simon Thomas arrived in town with a minimum of fuss.
Popularly known as “Sugar”, Thomas has slotted seamlessly into Albury’s defence, with his ability to take on a tall or small forward playing an important role in the Tigers’ undefeated record.
A dual Melbourne University Blacks premiership player in the VAFA, Thomas said he had enjoyed the switch to the Ovens and Murray and its “community involvement”.
Asked who would prevail in a contest between the premiership-winning Uni Blacks of 2014 and the current crop of Tigers, Thomas showed his loyalties now lie on the Border.
“It’s a good question because it’s a completely different type of footy, but I think Albury would probably win, they’re a bit more skillful,” the 24-year-old said.
“I’ve had to play on a bit bigger bodies than I traditionally have in the past but that’s been part of the learning curve and a good challenge.
“It’s been great up here.
“Probably the aspect that’s surprised me the most is the community involvement, everyone up here is involved in a club in one way or another.
“Everybody knows what’s going on, whereas in Melbourne, not everyone is involved with footy and you don’t get the crowds like you do up here, where it’s a huge part of the community.
“Even the home and away games, it’s three or four times the amount of people at the games in Melbourne.”
Thomas will play in front of up to 10,000 people when the Tigers take on Lavington in Sunday’s grand final.
He split the honours with star Panthers forward Adam Prior when the sides met in the second semi-final at Birallee Park and looks set for another assignment against the four-time Doug Strang medallist.
“He’s a good player, he’s got good hands,” he said.
“We’ll see how we go this week and what’s going on with match-ups. It will be a good game – they played pretty well last time.”
Finally, where does the nickname “Sugar” come from?
“When I played at Uni Blacks, I played in the backline and used to punch the ball and therefore got the nickname ‘Sugar Ray Leonard’ for just punching things, the ball, not people, and then it just got abbreviated to ‘Sugar’,” he said.
Everyone at Tigerland would agree, he’s been a sweet addition to the side.
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Xavier Mardling
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
