Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has labelled Tarryn Thomas “an absolute drainer on the North Melbourne football club” as the troubled Kangaroo’s off-field antics continue to mount.
Thomas was edging towards a return to the club last week before a social media post shared with close friends – which appeared to show him driving dangerously – again cast doubt over his future.
Lloyd said the amount of energy being expended by the club on Thomas would be wearing thin on those in power at Arden Street.
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“He’s an absolute drainer on the North Melbourne football club and I don’t say that lightly,” Lloyd said on Channel Nine’s Footy Classified.
“I’ve seen it before with players when you’ve got that many players and staff who are trying to turn that club around to try and be respected again and stand for something and the amount of time and energy they’re wasting on Tarryn Thomas.
“They’ve already brought him back into the club once, then they had to let him go back out again, wanted to reintroduce him next week. Whether you’re sending that to one person or 10, it’s dangerous, immature.
“Again he’s losing more respect from the football world and more importantly his teammates and he’s being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars while he’s not at the club.
“He’s just going to realise whether it’s next week, next month or in a few years that he wasted an amazing opportunity.”
Thomas, 23, was stood down by the club in March following further allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women, as well as failure to adequately progress in an education program the club prescribed him.
Geelong premiership star Jimmy Bartel said Thomas had to strike a far better balance between his professionalism as an AFL player and his social life.
“We want players to have lives, no one is denying that, but you are different, because there are different standards for you to be an AFL footballer. It’s actually a privilege,” Bartel said.
“You can still have the life you want to live but there’s a certain standard that comes with being an AFL footballer … I’m just concerned, who’s advising him?
“Everyone’s got a circle of friends or people you lean on, you pick up the phone. If he’s called up a mate and gone ‘I’m going to head to Sydney while I’m trying to make my way back into North Melbourne’, surely someone is going ‘Should you? Shouldn’t you just stay at home?’”
Thomas is contracted until the end of 2024.
