Tarryn Thomas

Tarryn Thomas (born 25 March 2000) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Tarryn Thomas
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-03-25) 25 March 2000
Place of birth Sydney, New South Wales
Original team(s) North Launceston (TSL)/Prospect Hawks(TAS)
Draft No. 8, 2018 national draft
Debut Round 2, 2019, North Melbourne vs. Brisbane Lions, at Marvel Stadium
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2019–2023 North Melbourne 69 (56)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Thomas was born in Sydney, New South Wales,[1] into a family of Indigenous Australian descent (Kamilaroi and Lumaranatana).[2] He grew up playing rugby league and was identified as a junior prospect in the position of fullback,[3] which subsequently led to him joining the Penrith Panthers development academy.[4] At 12 years of age, Thomas relocated to Launceston, Tasmania, and began playing Australian rules football for the Prospect Hawks and eventually the North Launceston Bombers.[5]

He made history in 2016 when he was voted Tasmania's best under-16 and under-18 player at respective national championships in the same year.[6] Thomas was drafted by North Melbourne with their first selection and eighth overall in the 2018 national draft, after being part of North's Next Generation Academy (NGA).[7] He completed school at St Patrick's College, Launceston.

AFL career

Thomas made his debut as a late inclusion in North Melbourne's 21-point loss to the Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium in round 2, 2019.[8] Thomas received a 2019 AFL Rising Star nomination for his two-goal effort in round 12 against Gold Coast.[9] Thomas had a career-best game in round 19 of the 2021 AFL season, where he kicked 4 goals and played a major part in the team's upset win over Carlton.[10]

At the start of 2024, Thomas was found to have engaged in inappropriate behaviour towards a woman, which followed a long list of off-field controversies and indiscretions.[11] He received an 18-game suspension from the AFL, which was subsequently followed by North Melbourne’s decision to sever ties with Thomas ahead of the 2024 AFL season.[12]

In 2023, Thomas was charged with threatening to distribute an intimate image; he was later stood down by the club; he was offered a diversion programme, and Thomas was ordered to pay $1,000 to charity.[13][14][15] The charge was Thomas's second over the 2022–23 AFL off-season after he was previously caught driving while his licence was suspended.[16] Additionally, in a now-deleted Instagram video posted by Thomas, he appeared to have his feet up on a Mercedes dashboard while driving.[17]

In May 2024, Essendon coach Brad Scott said in a televised press interview that Thomas was a "good person" and "deserved a second chance".[18] The comment was slammed by the public at large and by media personalities such as former AFL champion Jimmy Bartel, himself a staunch campaigner against domestic violence.[18][19][20]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2022 season.[21]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2019 North Melbourne 2620161511412624047680.80.85.76.312.02.43.4
2020[lower-alpha 1] North Melbourne 266322423478190.30.34.03.87.81.33.2
2021 North Melbourne 2621241723314938296731.20.910.96.717.63.33.7
2022North Melbourne26 1022844512928280.20.28.44.512.92.82.8
Career 57 45 36 455 343 798 179 187 0.7 0.6 7.9 6.0 14.0 3.1 3.2

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. "National Inclusion Carnival a hit in Tasmania". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  2. "AFL Players' Indigenous Map 2020" (PDF). aflplayers.com.au. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. Landsberger, Sam (20 November 2018). "The Tassie tough guy with a rugby league background". The Australian. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  4. "There's no doubting Thomas". aflplayers.com.au. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  5. "How Rising Star nominee Tarryn Thomas went from Penrith Panthers academy to North Melbourne". Foxsports.com.au. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. Stubbs, Brett (5 July 2016). "Tarryn Thomas a natural AFL talent already being compared to the game's modern greats". The Mercury. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  7. Bowen, Nick (23 November 2018). "Swings and roundabouts for Roos with bidding system". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  8. "Thomas to debut". NMFC.com.au. Telstra Media. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  9. Black, Sarah. "Tarryn Thomas a Rising Star". nmfc.com.au. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  10. Sutton, Ben (24 July 2021). "That's a wrap: Sev-Larkey special ends dismal Blues' finals hopes". AFL Media. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  11. https://www.watoday.com.au/sport/afl/afl-hits-tarryn-thomas-with-18-match-ban-for-inappropriate-behaviour-20240222-p5f6zy.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed
  12. https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/north-melbournes-tarryn-thomas-set-for-huge-18game-afl-ban/news-story/07a09425d9599a7809ddcd6afd84d58c?amp
  13. Pearson, Erin (18 July 2023). "Tarryn Thomas to donate $1000 to charity after threatening to share nude videos of ex-girlfriend". The Age. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  14. "North Melbourne's Tarryn Thomas charged by police". ABC News. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  15. "Exiled Roos star in hot water over deleted video". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  16. "North Melbourne's hypocrisy is impossible to miss". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  17. "Exiled Roos star in hot water over deleted video". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  18. "'Incredibly uncomfortable': Great's issue with ex-Roo's return as AFL must 'walk the walk' on violence". Fox Sports. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  19. McLachlan, Hamish (27 March 2016). "Jimmy Bartel speaks out about the domestic violence he experienced growing up". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  20. Epstein, Jackie (4 October 2016). "Jimmy Bartel shaves his beard off after growing it for 200 days for the Face UP To DV campaign". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  21. "Tarryn Thomas". AFL Tables. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
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