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Nathan Thompson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Personal Info | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 14 February 1978, |
| Recruited from | Kyneton/Bendigo U18 |
| Height/Weight | 196cm / 100kg |
| Playing Career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 2, April 4, 1998, Hawthorn vs. Port Adelaide, at Waverley Park |
| Team(s) | Hawthorn (1998-2004)
North Melbourne (2005-)
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| ¹ Statistics to end of Round 6, 2006 season | |
| Career Highlights | |
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Nathan Thompson (born 14 February 1978) is an Australian rules footballer currently playing with the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.
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Thompson was recruited from Kyneton, Victoria and debuted for the Hawthorn Football Club in 1998. A tall marking forward, Thompson was an important young player for the club considering he was selected in the 1997 AFL Draft at pick 82.
Thompson performed well in the Hawks' brilliant 2001 campaign where they came within a goal of the Grand Final and finished 3rd in the Peter Crimmins Medal.
In 2004 Thompson admitted to the media that he had been suffering from clinical depression, a saga that raised awareness of the condition.
At the end of 2004, possibly following the need for a fresh start following his revelation of depression, Thompson was a prized recruit for the North Melbourne Football Club and was seen as a big forward option alongside Saverio Rocca at the club. In 2005 he debuted for the Kangaroos and found himself working in rotation and occasionally in tandem with Rocca up forward, although this was not a permanent move due to Rocca's age and the top-heaviness of the Roos' forward line.
Thompson was the Kangaroos' leading goalkicker for 2005 with 52 goals and was considered a good choice for the Roos.
One of Thompson's most memorable games was the clash against Collingwood in Round 19. With the Roos trailing by almost 4 goals late in the 4th quarter, Thompson was part of a revival where the Kangaroos managed to take the lead in the dying moments. His contribution was 3 goals, including the matchwinner just before the siren. He gestured with a Hulk Hogan-style fist pump which remained one of the famous images of the 2005 AFL season.
In 2006 Thompson faced an eventful two weeks. In the Round 5 game against Melbourne, Thompson had helped the Kangaroos to get back in the game after they were trailing at half-time. Having booted 5 goals for the day and being in control of the Demons' defence, Thompson took a couple of important contested marks and was a dangerous presence up forward for North (in terms of scoring and marking power). He put the Kangaroos in front after they had trailed for much of the last three quarters and was on his way to perhaps putting in a match-winning performance. However following a desperate last-quarter chase of Melbourne's Nathan Carroll, Thompson in a shock move put himself on the bench, replacing himself with Drew Petrie. He was not sitting on the bench and was standing up, giving the impression that he wanted to come back onto the ground. Thompson later cited that he was "spent" and tired as the reasons for his early exit (Melbourne then went on to win the game with a last minute goal after the Kangaroos had several forward opportunities).
This controversy received a lot of media attention but for Sirengate, which occurred the day following the North Melbourne-Melbourne match and was so big that Thompson's voluntary send off (compared to Sally Robbins' rowing controversy by some in the media) was put on the back-burner.
In Round 6 Thompson said that he was willing to put the previous week's debacle aside and performed with an 8-goal haul, the best of his career, to give the Kangaroos a 22-point victory to lift them off the bottom of the ladder.
Thompson is part of the RioMarketing company.
Glenn Archer wrote an article after Nathan Thompson's taking off incident, from "Thommo's" view, he made a point that Thommo had lactic acid in his legs and he decided it would be better for the team if he swapped with Drew.