North Melbourne’s Tarryn Thomas has been handed an 18-match suspension by the AFL, according to reports.
The 23-year old, who faced the league’s Integrity Unit in January over new domestic violence allegations against him, has had the whopping ban confirmed by the AFL Commission, with Nine‘s Tom Morris reporting his season is now all but over.
Heading into the final season of his Kangaroos contract, Thomas will now only be able to manage four matches in 2024 – unless the club acts early to move the troubled potential star on after years of serious allegations against him from a number of women.
In 2023, Thomas was charged with threatening to distribute intimate images of his former partner, with the Roos standing him down as a result, though he avoided sanction after attending court in July.
He had also been stood down earlier in the season after the allegations first emerged.
He returned after undertaking a club-ordered respect and responsibility education program to play 12 AFL matches last season, bringing his career tally up to 69 since making his debut in 2019 – and even finishing sixth in the Roos’ best and fairest despite playing in barely half their games.
After being taken with pick 8 in the 2018 draft, the Tasmanian has shown glimpses of his exceptional talent, but they have been comfortably outweighed in recent years by the litany of off-field allegations against him.