News Tarryn Thomas - 18 matches and sacked from North Melbourne

[ferball]

He should have been sacked much earlier. So no, no they didn't.

What you gonna do when Bard offers him a contract next year?

 

[boncer34]

What you gonna do when Bard offers him a contract next year?

Continue to voice my disgust at his actions and at Essendon for recruiting him.

Unlike you, my disgust at people who commit DV isn't limited to those who don't play for my footy club.

 

[ferball]

I spent most of my first 20 years there, cuz.

If we know four things about TT, its that he values glamour, he values prestige, he values ostentatiousness, and he's got issues.

Now he might find some kinship for that last category down there, but I fear any future move to Tassie would leave the other 3 mental buckets quite unfilled.

He could go hang out at MONA cos they don't give a **** about proper art either.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Todd Viney said he would no longer play for the club but it didn't seem like it was a termination of his contract. I think he said he would talk to his manager about a reduced payout due to repeated behavioural clause breaches of his contract but it didn't sound like we used breach of contract to terminate his contract immediately. He is just done as a player.

I am not sure about the MSD.

The club might not want to fill the spot as I think we were given +2 list spots on the list as part of the assistance package, which will expire at the end of the season and probably wont be extended and we don't have a lot of players left to get rid of. I think Greenwood and Shiels will retire end of the season, not a whole lot of others who come out of contract this year to get rid of. It isn't looking promising for Curtis Taylor but other than him and the two older players we don't have much exiting the club so we might want to hold off on putting someone else on the list. We filled our last spot with Sellers from the VFL side and other than Logue we don't have any meaningful injuries so the list is in a pretty healthy state overall atm.

Thomas isn't allowed to play football at any level for the next 18 weeks, but I think he will officially be a North player until the official list lodgement period come October. He still has access to medical staff, psychologist, indigenous officer, etc... he just wont play again and wont train at the club. I doubt the club would get in the way if he wanted to train with another club outside of the AFL system but the club hasn't made a comment about that.

I think we just want to move on and put this nightmare behind us.

Behaviour clauses are pretty common in player contracts I thought, but there may be doubt over which apply as he was suspended for less than a full season. He might argue the club's decision is costing him more than warranted, as it is in excess of the independent arbiter's ruling.


I'm not a lawyer and only seeing this document for the first time and going through quickly so may be misinterpreting, or missing things; and it is 2023 rules so there may well be some changes.
https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/do...nded-AFL-Rules-effective-28-February-2023.pdf


It would seem he cannot be delisted (5.5), even if the contract is terminated. A terminated players is still listed and still "bound to the club".
The MSD presumably does not count as an "exchange period" under clause 9.1.
If (very big "if") those are both correct, he would not be eligible for MSD even if a club did want him for the final phase of the season and had a spot open. Of course there is every chance he wouldn't be match fit by finals anyway, if a club sought him for that reason.


As for a promotion from the rookie list, it wouldn't be for Thomas. His absence is not a long term injury so it seems would require special exemption from the AFL. The timing doesn't seem to meet 10.11 (a) or (c) to allow a rookie list promotion without long term injury.

 

[ferball]

Continue to voice my disgust at his actions and at Essendon for recruiting him.

Unlike you, my disgust at people who commit DV isn't limited to those who don't play for my footy club.

Your criticism of the club doing what it did is so far wrong I don't even know where to begin.

There are indigenous communities in Australia with local footy teams where games are dependent on good behaviour and not treating women like shit. White Australia could learn from it and as we saw under McLaughlin the AFL has this sort of shit go on at all levels.

I've spent alot of time with some pretty ****ed up indigenous communities and there are some real issues there wrt the treatment of women, usually its the women who keep those communities functioning too. Thomas would have been a role model to young blackfellas and the club was right to do what it did in trying to change his behaviour and giving him the chance to change because he would have set a fantastic example if it had worked.

Because it didn't work I think if he ends up an example of someone who threw it all away cos he couldn't control his behaviour then maybe that helps too.

I'm sad that it ended up this way, what a waste, but he made his bed and he can lie in it.

Anyway jump back up on your ivory high horse and **** off back to the land of topping up with false hope and losing finals for decades.

 

[boncer34]

Your criticism of the club doing what it did is so far wrong I don't even know where to begin.

There are indigenous communities in Australia with local footy teams where games are dependent on good behaviour and not treating women like s**t. White Australia could learn from it and as we saw under McLaughlin the AFL has this sort of s**t go on at all levels.

I've spent alot of time with some pretty ****ed up indigenous communities and there are some real issues there wrt the treatment of women, usually its the women who keep those communities functioning too. Thomas would have been a role model to young blackfellas and the club was right to do what it did in trying to change his behaviour and giving him the chance to change because he would have set a fantastic example if it had worked.

Because it didn't work I think if he ends up an example of someone who threw it all away cos he couldn't control his behaviour then maybe that helps too.

I'm sad that it ended up this way, what a waste, but he made his bed and he can lie in it.

Anyway jump back up on your ivory high horse and * off back to the land of topping up with false hope and losing finals for decades.

I'm sorry your hypothetical gotcha moment failed.

But should Brad offer him a contract I look forward to you supporting his decision to do so.

 

[ferball]

I'm sorry your hypothetical gotcha moment failed.

But should Brad offer him a contract I look forward to you supporting his decision to do so.

The AFL says he has to successfully complete a behavioural change program before he ever plays again at the AFL level. I imagine they'll be very cautious in letting him back as every club has an AFLW side. So I imagine clubs that treat that sort thing as tokenism will be champing at the bit to get him. That leaves you lot and Collingwood as front runners.

 

[boncer34]

The AFL says he has to successfully complete a behavioural change program before he ever plays again at the AFL level. I imagine they'll be very cautious in letting him back as every club has an AFLW side. So I imagine clubs that treat that sort thing as tokenism will be champing at the bit to get him. That leaves you lot and Collingwood as front runners.

Which you'll support the decision to recruit him yes?

 

[ferball]

If he can genuinely change his behaviour and show over a period of time that he has reformed then that would be a good thing and bigger than my support of my footy club ... and I'd support any club recruiting him on that basis even tho I'd dislike him as a player.

It will be a difficult journey for him tho. If he can do it then the level of growth he'd achieve and self awareness he would need to develop would mean that beyond footy he'd make the world a better place. That's what happens with the rare people who can do that in my experience.

As far as North goes at any other time losing the talent Thomas has would cripple us but now, with the young talent on our list, its just an inconvenience.

 

[faible]

That leaves you lot and Collingwood as front runners.

I'm loving this thing where you literally made up a hypothetical to pot Essendon and Collingwood about the imaginary recruitment of Thomas.

BigFooty as its best.

 

[Merlin007]

Well, yes, he is suspended for 18 matches as far as the AFL (and affiliated leagues) is concerned. Not permanently deregistered. If a club wants him in 2025 or beyond the AFL have no grounds for refusing that.

This is not correct - to be eligible to play again, the AFL require Thomas to complete an approved behavioural program.

Given he manipulated his way through the last one, it's just a guess, but I imagine the AFL will scrutinise both the program and Thomas' commitment to it fairly closely

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

This is not correct - to be eligible to play again, the AFL require Thomas to complete an approved behavioural program.

Given he manipulated his way through the last one, it's just a guess, but I imagine the AFL will scrutinise both the program and Thomas' commitment to it fairly closely

You're right, that slipped my mind at the time.

 

[Kappa]

Its more likely his contract had behaviour clauses, North Melbourne have looked at it and said this gives us the opportunity to cancel his contract without having to pay him out the remainder because TT was the one who broke the contract.

North use this threat to negotiate a reduced payout.

I mean the AFL have already decided what he did was not a sackable offence, so it'd be bloody hard for north to now argue they might sack him so he has to take less money now...

 

[RHLK]

Yes, but that is Channel 7. Backers of Ben Roberts-Smith, plus Michael Slater and Wayne Carey for longer than was really possible.
Stokes has a way of supporting, or allowing his managers and HR staff to support, some fairly shoddy characters.

Basil Zempilas is not a puppet!

 

[Duckimus Prime]

I mean the AFL have already decided what he did was not a sackable offence, so it'd be bloody hard for north to now argue they might sack him so he has to take less money now...

An 18 match suspension does put him into automatic deregistration.

Oh wait, code of conduct/bringing the game into disrepute suspension don't count to that.

 

[ferball]

I'm loving this thing where you literally made up a hypothetical to pot Essendon and Collingwood about the imaginary recruitment of Thomas.

BigFooty as its best.

Its what its all about.

 

[memoryofmchale]

That is the question. There were rumours about Arie Schoenmaker before the draft and despite being rated as a second rounder in terms of talent he was taken with basically the last pick in the draft, and Mark McVeigh who coached Schoenmaker in the Tasmanian team clearly did not recommend him to the Swans (who McVeigh now works for). Had Schoenmaker been some sort of hidden gem you can bet Mark McVeigh would have recommended him to Beatson.

His reputation with AFL Tasmania was not great. Turns out where young people study and what they’re up to as they become closer to draft age is very relevant. They also track character in terms of training, matches, off-field. He was on their radar for years. Talented, also a few red flags. It’s not exactly difficult in a place like Tasmania where everyone is connected to everyone. Arie so happened to briefly attend the biggest school for football at one point so there were more connections to clubs.

The Devils let kids make mistakes but also push professionalism. So if McVeigh saw something, he’d have recommended him in a heartbeat. He played Allies football and played well so again, the chance for a tip-off was there.

For what’s it worth, Tarryn Thomas’ behaviour was noted well before he was drafted, most of the reason Jackson Callow wasn’t drafted in 2020 was because of his behaviour. In the 2023 draft, Ryley Sanders, had a good reputation, won a scholarship to Melbourne Grammar. James Leake was seen as a leader and Colby McKercher had professionalism. That all helped them go as first rounders.

I think Tarryn would struggle to return to Tasmania because reputation is everything there. Culture killer for his former club, hard to live in a place where everyone hates you.