AFL player Tarryn Thomas’ texts revealed after disturbing allegations

A series of disturbing allegations have been made against an AFL star with multiple women coming forward and revealing texts.

Tarryn Thomas of the Kangaroos. Photo by Michael WillsonAFL Photos.

A series of disturbing allegations have reportedly been made against North Melbourne rising star Tarryn Thomas.

The North Melbourne player has been accused of harassment and intimidating behaviour with multiple women speaking out to the AFL’s integrity unit, The Herald Sun first reported.

The 22-year-old was recently charged with a single count of threatening to distribute an intimate image.

As confirmed by the North Melbourne Football Club, Thomas is facing criminal charges over the alleged image threat, and that he had also been pulled over by police for driving with a suspended license during the Christmas break.

The Herald Sun has now revealed more allegations have since come to light as the AFL Integrity Unit continues its investigation into Thomas’ behaviour off the field.

Late on Wednesday night, a fresh allegation of inappropriate behaviour saw Thomas stood down, the club revealed.

“Tarryn Thomas will take time away from the club after the AFL’s integrity unit informed North Melbourne of a new allegation of inappropriate behaviour on Wednesday afternoon,” the statement read.

“As detailed in the club’s statement earlier on Wednesday, the club and Thomas made a commitment to co-operate fully in any investigation if new information was presented.

“In light of this new information, Thomas will remain away from the club while the AFL gathers further information about the allegations.

“In the meantime, Thomas will be expected to meet his obligations around his respectful behaviour training and education program, as outlined in club correspondence earlier today.”

Tarryn Thomas of the Kangaroos. Photo by Mike Owen/AFL Photos.

The allegations made against Thomas include one woman’s claim the footballer sent her a text message that read: “You’re a f**king joke … keep talking sh*t … sh*t going to come around soon … your turn will come … sh*t is going to go down … I’m not a n**** to be f**ked with.”

Another woman sent a text to friends last year that read: “I’m too scared … i know he’s (Thomas) gonna kill me.”

At least one of the women, who was reportedly hospitalised as a result of an incident in 2022, had been provided with a psychologist by the league, which told the Herald Sun the behaviour alleged to it was “family violence”. The AFL, according to the report, offered to facilitate meetings with detectives from a family violence investigation unit.

One allegation included Thomas telling a woman he wanted to beat her and called her names like “a slut”.

Another allegation claimed Thomas threw a lamp at a woman in a hotel room.

At least one of the women, who was reportedly hospitalised as a result of an incident in 2022, had been provided with a psychologist by the league.

Tarryn Thomas is contracted until the end of the 2024 season. Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images.

North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood released a statement to club members on Wednesday afternoon.

“In light of the serious and confronting allegations against Tarryn Thomas that surfaced in the media on Tuesday night, it was important that I write to you this morning to outline the club’s past and present actions on these matters,” Hood said.

“We take any allegation of threats of violence against women extremely seriously. Respect of all people is fundamental to our club values.

“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.

“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.

“Should any further investigation arise from new information passed on to the AFL or the police, the club and Tarryn will co-operate fully, as we did in the wake of those initial allegations.

“It’s also important to acknowledge that Tarryn is still to face a matter before the courts and as such we won’t be making any comment about that particular case.

“Subject to any further investigations, the club will await the outcome of the court proceedings before confirming our next course of action.

“Finally, I know that this issue is challenging and confronting, and the club acknowledges the impact people will be feeling across the community by reading the media today. We are committed to supporting our people through this time and I want to reiterate that our whole club understands the significance of this matter.”

No comment from North. (Photo by Michael WillsonAFL Photos)

The AFL responded to the newspaper’s revelations on Tuesday.

An AFL spokesperson on Tuesday told the Herald Sun the league had worked with Victoria Police regarding allegations against Thomas and had “reached out directly to those persons known to us” after the newspaper had put new information to the league.

“Any allegation of threats of violence against women is unacceptable and is behaviour that the AFL takes extremely seriously,” an AFL spokesperson said.

“The AFL has offered and will continue to provide wellbeing support to any person who has come forward with an allegation.

“The AFL has investigated all formal complaints where appropriate and where there have been allegations of criminal behaviour have facilitated contact with Victoria Police who are the most appropriate body to investigate allegations of that nature.

“Tarryn Thomas is currently the subject of criminal charges over a reported incident and while that matter is yet to be finalised in court, the AFL will continue to work with NMFC and Victoria Police and will monitor the outcome of the police action.”

Thomas was drafted by the club in 2018 and has played 57 games for them since.

He played only 10 games last season but remains contracted to the club until the end of 2024.