Adam Tomlinson Biography

Adam Tomlinson misses the start to the Demons' pre-season due to a strained calf.

"Adam unfortunately strained his calf last week while away from the club," Melbourne's football manager Josh Mahoney said.

"He was completing a running session when he felt some tightness, with scans revealing a calf strain. He will be running next week."

Adam Tomlinson officially signs with Melbourne as an unrestricted free agent after eight years as a Giant.

"I finished playing footy 10 days ago, so it's been an emotional month in terms of the way it panned out when I was playing," Tomlinson told reporters.

"It's always going to be sad. I spent eight years at the footy club, and they developed and shaped who I am today. I thank them for everything but [I'm] very, very excited to be here."

After struggling with homesickness early in his career, Adam Tomlinson says his relationship with GWS coach Leon Cameron is the main reason he has stuck it out with the Giants on his way to 100 games this week.

"Leon and I have had a lot of honest conversations and he's always told me, 'I'm not letting you go because I love having you in the side'," Tomlinson said.

"For me, I get a lot of confidence out of that because he wants me here and wants me to play for him. It's because of Leon that I'm still here."

Lachie Whitfield has been a revelation since being sent into defence for Greater Western Sydney this year.

"He's a phenomenal ball user on both sides of his body and he's been able to defend, but because he reads the game so well he's been able to capitalise on that," GWS teammate Adam Tomlinson said of Lachie Whitfield.

"He's got good speed so he's able to close out a fair few times as well, so he's been doing really well."

St Kilda concedes its bold move to poach Adam Tomlinson from Greater Western Sydney won't work, with the Giants unwilling to release the defender from his contract.

"The reality of that is that Adam has wanted to come home. There appeared to be an opening there for a period where the Giants were, I suppose, open to thinking about that," Saints chief operating officer Ameet Bains said.

"As the season progressed, the finals played out the way they have and some of the players they've already lost, they made it clear that they don't want to be losing any more players."

Greater Western Sydney will not allow contracted defender Adam Tomlinson to leave the club, despite St Kilda's interest in the Victorian.

"Adam is a contracted player to the Giants and still got a two-year term to run," St Kilda chief operating officer Amit Bains said.

"He hasn't explicitly come out and said publicly that he's leaving. The Giants would have to agree to release him.

"There would be a few clubs interested in his services."

Adam Tomlinson signs a new a new two-year deal with GWS to keep him at the club until the end of 2019.

Tomlinson tsaid the genesis of his decision to recommit to GWS was the club's decision to scuttle a bold Carlton play to lure him home in the 2015 trade period.

"They showed a lot of faith in me [in 2015] to shut all those windows down and keep me on," Tomlinson said.

"It showed the club wanted to keep me at the club and was the foundation for me staying and re-signing this week pretty much."

Adam Tomlinson earned his spot in the Giants' senior side after dominating the NEAFL as a midfielder, but it's in defence that he'll be of most value for Greater Western Sydney's during this year's finals.

Tomlinson, who was dropped from Leon Cameron's team three times before the mid-season bye, refused to give up on his dream of running out with his teammates in September, and his patience paid off.

The 23-year-old struggled early in the season, but churned out some amazing numbers in the reserves, averaging 32 touches and 10 marks in nine games, including a 52-possession effort against the Brisbane Lions in round eight.

Cameron knew the versatile Victorian deserved another chance, which came in round 16 when Tomlinson's request for the job on Collingwood forward Travis Cloke was granted, and while that day didn't pan out as he'd hoped – the big Magpie kicked four goals and took 12 marks, but was later fined by the AFL for wearing a non-approved glove – Tomlinson hasn't missed a game since.

"I really do love playing in the backline, it's a team within a team," Tomlinson said.

"Playing with Phil (Davis) and 'Heater' (Heath Shaw) gives you a lot of confidence.

"If you take a pretty bold position by standing in front of the forwards, it's because you know that you've got Phil behind you telling you to do it and it forces you to do it.

"They give you confidence in how you play your football and this is the most settled I've felt in a position for a while and it has given me a lot of confidence, especially over the past month."

Adam Tomlinson says that hearing his name mentioned often during the trade period had no effect on him personally, and that he was always committed to playing with the Giants.

"It was more that a lot of the other clubs approached my manager (to enquire about a trade)," Tomlinson said.

"At the end of the days the Giants said no to a pretty good pick (as a trade) so they do value me as a player and I do love it up here in Sydney."

Adam Tomlinson's manager has not guaranteed his player will remain a Giant next year, despite the club's insistence that the contracted big man is going nowhere.

"(He) had a really frustrating year with some turf toe and then came into the side later in the year and was a little bit in and out," Nick Gieschen from Elite Sport Properties said.

"He's a quality player and yeah, there's been some interest from clubs back home as you'd expect but at the moment he's a GWS player and we'll see how the next week and a half unfolds.

"That’s what was always going to happen when they (GWS) had so many early quality draft selections, so not every player can fit into the best 22.

"We've seen the last couple of years they've lost two or three per year but it's a good problem for GWS to have that's for sure."

Adam Tomlinson is ruled out for 12 weeks with a toe injury.

Tomlinson hurt his toe and was subbed out of the Giants' 45-point win over Melbourne in Canberra on Saturday. The forward was hobbling around in a moon boot after the match.

Scans revealed Tomlinson suffered a toe ligament rupture in the second term – commonly known as 'turf toe' – and he will have surgery on Thursday.

GWS coach Leon Cameron says he has high hopes for Adam Tomlinson with spots up for grabs in the Giants' forward line.

"He's a 196cm running machine centre half-forward," Cameron said.

"He's got one of the biggest motors for a 196cm player I've seen.

"I think he'll be a great part of our forward line going forward."

Adam Tomlinson has signed a two-year extension with GWS, tying him to the club until at least the end of 2017.

"I was lucky enough to play in the first game ever for the Giants … and I want to be part of what's to come," Tomlinson said.

"We had a lot of close games (this) year that we unfortunately lost, but we're going to turn those close losses into some wins (next) year and hopefully move further up the ladder."

GWS coach Leon Cameron says he is happy with the progress of Adam Tomlinson as the Giants' centre half-forward.

"He's very flexible for us. He plays on the wing, he sometimes plays in the middle of the ground, he goes behind the footy," Cameron said.

"Any guy that's got a 9m 45s running ability over three kilometres is gold. If he's six-foot-four, it's even better.

"We're rapt to have him in our team and I can see him becoming a really good player for this footy club for a long time."

Adam Tomlinson earns the rising star nomination for round 17 after tallying 23 disposals, 9 marks and a goal against Essendon.

Tomlinson says he hopes to model his game after St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt.

"Nick Riewoldt's been the player I've looked up to over the past few years, so I've been trying to replicate what he does on the footy field," Tomlinson said.

"He's a great player who takes a lot of good grabs and he's just a running machine."