Wikipedia

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 (age 24)
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 edit

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 edit

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]

Legal issues edit

In 2023, Thomas was charged with threatening to distribute an intimate image; he was later stood down by the club; the case was dropped, 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] Scott's comments were seen as particularly tone-deaf considering the AFL had an upcoming round bringing attention to victims of domestic abuse.[21]

Statistics edit

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2022 season.[22]
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 26 20 16 15 114 126 240 47 68 0.8 0.8 5.7 6.3 12.0 2.4 3.4
2020[a] North Melbourne 26 6 3 2 24 23 47 8 19 0.3 0.3 4.0 3.8 7.8 1.3 3.2
2021 North Melbourne 26 21 24 17 233 149 382 96 73 1.2 0.9 10.9 6.7 17.6 3.3 3.7
2022 North Melbourne 26 10 2 2 84 45 129 28 28 0.2 0.2 8.4 4.5 12.9 2.8 2.8
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 edit

  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. ^ a b "'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. ^ "AFL clubs support stance on gendered violence as Eagles boss Pyke highlights 'horrendous' numbers". ABC News. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Tarryn Thomas". AFL Tables. Retrieved 5 August 2021.

External links edit

 

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