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North Melbourne utility Tarryn Thomas is taking time away from the AFL club after fresh allegations emerged of what the Kangaroos deemed to be “inappropriate behaviour”.
The Kangaroos are standing behind Thomas, but say they will await the outcome of court proceedings before confirming their “next course of action”.
Thomas hit the headlines last month after being charged with threatening to distribute an intimate image.
In a separate incident, he was stopped by police when driving with a suspended licence during the Kangaroos’ Christmas break.
This week more allegations were aired in the media about Thomas’ treatment of women, with North Melbourne president Sonja Hood penning an open letter on Wednesday to address the “serious and confronting allegations”.
According to a NewsCorp report, the AFL Integrity Unit has received allegations against Thomas that include threatening a woman that he was going to beat her up while calling her “a slut”, throwing a lamp at a women in a hotel, sending intimidating messages such as “your time is coming” and that he was involved in a verbal and physical altercation at a Prahran nightclub.
Tarryn Thomas. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Hood didn’t go into details about the latest claims, but she said the club took “allegation of threats of violence against women” extremely seriously.
She also gave an insight into the past and present programs put in place by the club since Thomas’ past indiscretions came to light.
“The club was aware of formal allegations made against Tarryn during 2022 that were investigated by the AFL’s Integrity Unit. Tarryn and the club co-operated fully with those investigations,” Hood wrote.
“The advice provided by the AFL following these incidents was that Tarryn should undertake training and education to deal with his behavioural issues.
“The club has since built a significant and multi-layered program which includes respectful relationships education, working with psychologists, mentoring, peer support and community outreach for Tarryn to complete so he can meet North Melbourne’s values and community expectations.
“He has started work on this program and we’ll continue to support Tarryn as he completes this work.”
Hood said that if any further investigations arise from the new information passed on to the AFL or the police, the club and Thomas would co-operate fully.
Thomas still has to face court over the allegation of threatening to distribute an intimate image.
“Subject to any further investigations, the club will await the outcome of the court proceedings before confirming our next course of action,” Hood wrote.
The 22-year-old Thomas played only 10 AFL games for the Kangaroos last season and was dropped from the senior side in June for not meeting training standards.
Thomas has played 57 games for the Roos since being selected with pick No.8 at the 2018 national draft.
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