Tarryn Thomas’ bizarre claim in wake of dangerous driving act
Troubled AFL star Tarryn Thomas has made a bizarre claim in the wake of him posting a video of a dangerous act on Easter Monday.
Tarryn Thomas has stated he is doing “all he can” to return to the AFL fold, despite his latest social media indiscrection.
A concerning video emerged of the North Melbourne star driving a car with his feet on the centre console in yet another off-field controversy for the troubled player.
The video was posted to the 22-year-old’s Instagram stories on Monday night as he drove back to Melbourne following a trip to Sydney over the long weekend.
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Taken from the driver’s seat of his Mercedes, the video also shows Thomas’ car drifting between two lanes on the highway.
The post was made available only to his ‘close friends’ on Instagram, and was captioned with the words “living my best life” alongside two laughing emojis.
It’s the latest in a string of off-field controversies for the 57-game player whose career was already hanging by a thread at the Kangaroos.
North Melbourne midfielder Tarryn Thomas is on thin ice with his club after posting a video to social media appearing to show reckless behaviour on the road. @IzaStaskowski#9Newspic.twitter.com/1hLpmbtQLt
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) April 11, 2023
North Melbourne released a statement about the incident on Tuesday evening which included a declaration that Thomas hasn’t made adequate progress off the field to return to the club.
“North Melbourne is aware of a social media post by Tarryn Thomas from Monday night,” the statement said.
“Thomas has been away from the AFL program for the past three weeks and will continue to spend time away from the club.
“The club continues to assess Thomas’ progress towards meeting club and community expectations.
“He has not made adequate progress to be returned into the club environment at this stage.”
Thomas however claimed he was doing all he could to get back on the track with his North Melbourne teammates in an interview with Channel 7.
“I am very desperate to get back to the game I love and playing with my best friends. I can’t wait to get back,” Thomas told Seven News.
“I am doing everything I can to get back and the club is helping me and directing me. There are a lot of people outside the club trying to get help and the club is doing an amazing job for me.”
Thomas was stood down indefinitely by North Melbourne last month amid fresh claims of inappropriate behaviour towards women.
“Tarryn still has some work to do in that situation ... this is a serious concern,” North Melbourne football boss Todd Viney said on March 24.
“The main part we want to get right is respect and responsibility to women.
“He hadn’t really gotten to the level we needed to with the education program.
“There’d been some improvement, but not enough from out observations and also from some of the providers of those services we’ve been dealing with.”
He had previously stepped away from the club over allegations of threats of violence against women.
In January he was charged by police with one count of threatening to distribute an intimate image.