Tarryn Thomas (born Tarryn Trindall, 25 March 2000) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Early life

Thomas was born as Tarryn Trindall in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, into a family of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

descent (

Kamilaroi The Gamilaroi, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous Australians, Indi ...

and Lumaranatana). He grew up playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and was identified as a junior prospect in the position of fullback, which subsequently led to him joining the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

development academy. At 12 years of age, Thomas relocated to

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

, and began playing

for the Prospect Hawks and eventually the North Launceston Bombers. 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. 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). 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 at

Marvel Stadium Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

in round 2, 2019. Thomas received a 2019 AFL Rising Star nomination for his two-goal effort in round 12 against . Thomas had a career-best game in round 19 of the

2021 AFL season The 2021 AFL season was the 125th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

, where he kicked 4 goals and played a major part in the team's upset win over .

Legal issues and AFL suspension

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. The charge was Thomas's second over the 2022–23 AFL off-season after he was previously caught driving while his licence was suspended. Additionally, in a now-deleted

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

video posted by Thomas, he appeared to have his feet up on a Mercedes dashboard while driving. 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. 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 The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising ...

. In May 2024, Essendon coach Brad Scott said in a televised press interview that Thomas was a "good person" and "deserved a second chance". The comment was slammed by the public at large and by media personalities such as former AFL champion

Jimmy Bartel James Ross Bartel (born 4 December 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, tall and weighing , Bartel contributed as a midfielder, forward, an ...

, himself a staunch campaigner against domestic violence. Prior to the start of the

2025 VFL season The 2025 VFL season is the 143rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), a second-tier Australian rules football competition played in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The season began on 21 March and is scheduled t ...

, the

Northern Bullants The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Ov ...

expressed interest in signing Thomas. Following criticism on social media and amid the threat of losing sponsors and members, the club's board ultimately chose not to proceed with signing Thomas after a meeting held on 23 February 2025. In May 2025, Thomas was arrested in Melbourne for possession of a drug of dependence. Charges are pending.

Statistics

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2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 26 , , 21 , , 24 , , 17 , , 233 , , 149 , , 382 , , 96 , , 73 , , 1.2 , , 0.9 , , 10.9 , , 6.7 , , 17.6 , , 3.3 , , 3.7 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Tarryn 2000 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players North Launceston Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Gamilaraay Australian rules footballers from Sydney People educated at St Patrick's College, Launceston Sportspeople from Launceston, Tasmania 21st-century Australian sportsmen