AFL star Dale Thomas opens up about the '$400,000 worth of counselling' he needed to recover from an embarrassing on-field incident

Footy star Dale Thomas has revealed that he required $400,000 worth of counselling and three years to recover from an embarrassing on-field incident.

The former Carlton star and Collingwood champion who retired in 2019 after 258 AFL games has spoken about a simple shot at goal he missed in his seventh game for the Blues and the devastating impact it had on him.

'I had a shot (for goal) against Collingwood when I first played for Carlton, 35 metres out, was never more confident going back and kicking a ball, and didn't make the distance, just somehow fluffed it,' Thomas explained on Triple M.

'I reckon it took me three years and about $400,000 worth of AFLPA counselling to get confidence back in having a set shot for goal.

'I was a player who never had an issue — (I) missed goals, no worries.

'(But) that played on my mind, I lost sleep over it. The first time I've ever been properly rattled by anything.

'If there was a hole and a shovel, I would have continued to keep digging. I wanted to go off the field, it was gross.'

Thomas said the incident haunted him for a long time afterwards.

'(It was) the first moment I guess I'd ever failed the ultimate test,' he said.

'I had a lot of moments throughout my career, and you don't always take them, but you've prepared yourself in a way that you can. And, in that moment, I genuinely gassed it and I was embarrassed.

'It haunted me for a long time.

'You can't escape it. It ended up being right in my head.'

In 2023, Thomas admitted that during the Covid pandemic and had to seek out radical treatment to arrest rapid weight gain in his post-retirement life.

The sudden halt of professional training and the enforced lethargy of Covid lockdowns meant Thomas piled on 13kg - and his mates let him know all about it.

'Yes, I was happy to be the butt of a few jokes but it does take a toll on you eventually,' he told Channel Seven.

'It didn't matter how hard I was working, it just wasn't seeming to fall off.'

Thomas revealed he 'genuinely hated' footy in the years leading up to his retirement when he appeared on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2020.

The former Magpies and Blues star consulted medical specialists who recommended a 'metabolic reset' that includes a once-a-day injection as part of a tailored weight-loss program.

His medication consists of a hormone that's already produced in the gut and acts to slow the rate at which his stomach empties, making him feel full for longer.

The injection also affects the reward centre of the brain in order to combat food cravings, and lowers the weight your body naturally tries to maintain.

Since making the dramatic move, Thomas has shed 10kg and is coming back down to his original playing weight.

'Genetics play a large part in weight loss which is something I never understood. Playing professional sport for a long time, you just roll out expect that if you do put on some weight, you train harder and you lose it,' he said.

'No surprises if you put on the best part of 12-13 kilos that something needs to change and a lot of us through Covid it was a case of eating your feelings - I was certainly doing that.

'The only time I've experienced weight gain was after playing professional sport. Training so often throughout the weeks and throughout the years it was never really an issue.

'From what you considered to be out of shape or not at peak performance [when being a professional athlete] then to what it actually looks like now post career, is completely different.'