Unrestricted Free Agent Tarryn Thomas - Cleared to return by the AFL

[Wild Bill]

You mean like how Bailey behaved impeccably around a woman reporter this year when he thought it was just him and her there? And how the Cats were nothing to see here about it?

You can’t compare them. TT repeatedly for months abused his ex - even after having AVOs put on him. He didn’t care - abusing a young lady was more a priority than potentially jail and losing his football contract.

He was in a men’s behavioural course and still made abusive calls to a young lady!!! That is so bad and no club should go near him.

 

[Wild Bill]

Gonna buck the trend here, he’s getting picked up. He’s an elite level talent that’s proven in a cut throat industry and is still only 25 years old.

A club will find a way to manage the PR side of things and will get him in. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but when you are looking for any edge against the competition a club will make a move in this space.

Will be more than a few cameras on him during the DV huddle is DV round.

Arm in arm in support of DV victims.

I would be shocked if picked up this year. Clubs will need more time before rolling the dice. It would be a hard sell to a lot of members - and the AFLW players.

 

[Sheepey]

Gonna buck the trend here, he’s getting picked up. He’s an elite level talent that’s proven in a cut throat industry and is still only 25 years old.

A club will find a way to manage the PR side of things and will get him in. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but when you are looking for any edge against the competition a club will make a move in this space.

Don't reckon he'll get picked up in this upcoming draft, but can see it happening in 2026 for sure.

 

[stfan]

You can’t compare them. TT repeatedly for months abused his ex - even after having AVOs put on him. He didn’t care - abusing a young lady was more a priority than potentially jail and losing his football contract.

He was in a men’s behavioural course and still made abusive calls to a young lady!!! That is so bad and no club should go near him.

I actually wasn't.

My point more was that if the Cats cannot have someone like Bailey behaving with decency, what hope would they have with someone like TT.

TT should not be playing AFL period.

 

[Wild Bill]

I actually wasn't.

My point more was that if the Cats cannot have someone like Bailey behaving with decency, what hope would they have with someone like TT.

TT should not be playing AFL period.

Smith should have been sanctioned.

 

[Makeshift Park]

Putting a cynic's cap on...

I would have thought the PR redemption would be fairly easy to stage for the agent, given how much they stand to benefit financially.

Get TT to do a proper mea culpa interview where he acknowledges what he did was wrong, self-reflects on his behaviour, and explains how he's changed since then. Ghostwrite the lines yourself a week ahead of time.

Organise him to volunteer at some charity for the homeless once a week for a couple months before DFA season.

Weird how none of that groundwork appears to have been laid.

 

[stfan]

Putting a cynic's cap on...

I would have thought the PR redemption would be fairly easy to stage for the agent, given how much they stand to benefit financially.

Get TT to do a proper mea culpa interview where he acknowledges what he did was wrong, self-reflects on his behaviour, and explains how he's changed since then. Ghostwrite the lines yourself a week ahead of time.

Organise him to volunteer at some charity for the homeless once a week for a couple months before DFA season.

Weird how none of that groundwork appears to have been laid.

I doubt that TT will ever reform. Some people are just not good ...and TT seems to be one of them.

 

[foreverbutcherskies]

We can hold two thoughts at once: what Thomas did was serious and unacceptable; and a club with proven appetite for oversight might be the safest place for the long, unglamorous work of reform.

And that club is Geelong.

Only their environment - stable, insular, relentlessly adult - is built to absorb the performative noise this recruit will no doubt attract.

If the AFL is serious about supervised redemption rather than theatre, it should do more than merely “allow” Geelong; it should prefer them. The Cats have a documented knack for turning the discarded into the functional - even the exceptional (see: Stengle, delisted to All-Australian) - because they pair duty of care with duty of consequence.

This is not absolution. It is probation with a football attached. Let Geelong set the terms: education, reporting, zero-tolerance tripwires. Which is why the mooted AFL-funded additional rookie spot could prove to be the perfect containment vessel - a sealed crucible where Thomas' progress is measured, not presumed, and where the steady hand of Andrew Mackie rests on the kill-switch.

Alternatively a scumbag who treats women like he does can go get a normal job and not have the privilege of rehabbing/having his second/third/fourth or more chance in the AFL system.

 

[Chip Scab1]

Alternatively a scumbag who treats women like he does can go get a normal job and not have the privilege of rehabbing/having his second/third/fourth or more chance in the AFL system.

What did he actually do?

You seem to feel you know.

 

[sydney_gws]

He needs to understand that you have to not associate with those who encourage or don't care about bad behaviour. I guess that is why emotional maturity/ family background is factored into drafting players.

 

[mookieb]

Putting a cynic's cap on...

I would have thought the PR redemption would be fairly easy to stage for the agent, given how much they stand to benefit financially.

Get TT to do a proper mea culpa interview where he acknowledges what he did was wrong, self-reflects on his behaviour, and explains how he's changed since then. Ghostwrite the lines yourself a week ahead of time.

Organise him to volunteer at some charity for the homeless once a week for a couple months before DFA season.

Weird how none of that groundwork appears to have been laid.

If anyone does something wrong in society they should be punished. I'm not a fan of writing people off for life and givng them no chance of redemption or earning a living in their chosen profession though.

If TT is reformed then I see no reason why he shouldn't get a 2nd chance. If he isn't reformed then he gets what he deserves.

Given the need for virtue signalling and the current political climate then I doubt he ever gets back reformed or not.

 

[bmaurizio]

I hope Tarryn is given the opportunity to play AFL football again. He'd be a positive to whom ever picks him.
a good footballer just needs a fresh start. Yes he strayed badly and was pointedly politically incorrect but was heavily punished.
I wish him well and hopefully he turns his life it around and gets his football back on track.

 

[Rob R]

I hope Tarryn is given the opportunity to play AFL football again. He'd be a positive to whom ever picks him.
a good footballer just needs a fresh start. Yes he strayed badly and was pointedly politically incorrect but was heavily punished.
I wish him well and hopefully he turns his life it around and gets his football back on track

He was slapped on the wrist. shouldn't be allowed near any club until he has had no incidents for at least 5 years

 

[McKuursma]

I hope Tarryn is given the opportunity to play AFL football again. He'd be a positive to whom ever picks him.
a good footballer just needs a fresh start. Yes he strayed badly and was pointedly politically incorrect but was heavily punished.
I wish him well and hopefully he turns his life it around and gets his football back on track.

Pointedly politically correct and heavily punished is a certainly a way of framing it, given his worst indiscretions were never made public. In saying that, I have a level of sympathy due to his family experience during critical developmental phases of his life and do hope he can find a path to playing high level football, provided he does the work to get there. But most never get that path out.

 

[My_Username]

He was slapped on the wrist. shouldn't be allowed near any club until he has had no incidents for at least 5 years

In most situations I might agree with this, but a career in sports is notably short, so 5 years is, effectively, career ending.

I'd be looking to allow him to return to football next year (outside the AFL system, so local comp, perhaps SANFL/WAFL, or equivalent).
end of 2026 he can be drafted as a special case...1 year deal, but can't play AFL (So he plays in the 2s) only, but is within the AFL/club system.
If he gets through that, in 2027 he can be 'promoted' to another 1 year deal that's just like any other player. (future contracts can be longer, but I doubt any clubs would be taking long term punts on him in a hurry).

During this time, and for the rest of his career, he's got a close watch/zero tolerance clause in his contract, along with ongoing counseling, 10%(?) of his earnings go to appropriate charities, and he does some stipulated/relevant community service work.

 

[TazHawk15]

I hope Tarryn is given the opportunity to play AFL football again. He'd be a positive to whom ever picks him.
a good footballer just needs a fresh start. Yes he strayed badly and was pointedly politically incorrect but was heavily punished.
I wish him well and hopefully he turns his life it around and gets his football back on track.

Talk to anyone who knew him in Launceston and you would not let him near an AFL club (I am still amazed North never did any decent research before they drafted him)

He is a prick, was a prick and will always be a prick.

He should be grateful he did not do jail time because the full story of his past has nowhere near been made public.

As a 30+ year member of the HFC, I would be livid if he even played for the Box Hill Hawks.

 

[Vindicater]

He ain't getting picked up.

Just not worth the drama at this point.

 

[Moonatic77]

He ain't getting picked up.

Just not worth the drama at this point.

Nor should he

 

[Moonatic77]

Talk to anyone who knew him in Launceston and you would not let him near an AFL club (I am still amazed North never did any decent research before they drafted him)

He is a prick, was a prick and will always be a prick.

He should be grateful he did not do jail time because the full story of his past has nowhere near been made public.

As a 30+ year member of the HFC, I would be livid if he even played for the Box Hill Hawks.

Agree totally. Praying my club dont get involved with this POS