By Jake Niall
Exiled ex-North Melbourne midfielder Tarryn Thomas has a potential new home in VFL club the Northern Bullants, but the board and sponsors of the standalone club will first have to approve the move.
Bullants general manager Darren Bassett confirmed that the club’s coach and administration were keen to sign Thomas – who has been barred from the AFL and can only join a VFL club not aligned with an AFL clubs – but that he was not guaranteed of joining the Bullants because Thomas’s signing required board and sponsor approval.
Tarryn Thomas was cut by North Melbourne last year after being suspended for most of the season.Credit: Getty Images
“The board is going to ratify whether we proceed with it or not,” said Bassett, who said the coach, ex-Carlton player Rohan Welsh, wanted Thomas playing for the Bullants this year.
Bassett said Thomas, whom the more financially robust Port Melbourne considered signing, had indicated he wanted to play for the Bullants and to stay in Melbourne.
“There’s an indication he wants to come to us. We’ll go through that process now,” Bassett said.
Thomas was suspended for 18 matches last year after the AFL found he’d committed several conduct breaches, including threatening a woman by a direct message, and it was ruled that he could not play football at any level.
In May, he was charged by police with using a telecommunications service to harass. That charge was dropped in November, but he pleaded guilty to breaching a court order for repeated calls to a woman in April last year.
Thomas avoided a conviction, but the AFL ruled that he would not be eligible to play again unless he changed his behaviour and completed education programs.
When the league prevented him from being recruited at this year’s mid-season draft, it meant his earliest possible return to the AFL would be in 2026.
St Kilda officials met with Thomas during 2024 before the club quickly ruled out recruiting the highly talented midfielder – the AFL having barred any club from picking him this year, regardless.
“There’s absolutely no guarantee it’s going to happen,” said Bassett, emphasising that the club’s board would decide now. He said “external stakeholders”, such as sponsors, would have a say in Thomas’s recruitment.
The Bullants, formerly known as Preston, won just two games in 2024 and have relatively scant financial resources compared to most VFL clubs, including non-aligned Williamstown and Port Melbourne.
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