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Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has questioned whether North Melbourne has been tough enough with Tarryn Thomas after he was allowed to return to training with the club’s VFL program.
After being exiled from the club on two occasions, Thomas was permitted to make his return earlier this week, but still remains a way off playing an AFL game for the Kangaroos.
Lloyd cast the spotlight on the Kangaroos’ treatment of the troubled 23-year-old, recalling a speech legendary Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy gave he and his fellow draftees when they entered the AFL.
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“I know every situation is different … but I just wonder whether they’ve treated him with kid gloves, whether it is time to be real firm for this last chance,” he told Nine’s Footy Classified.
”Sheedy got the five recruits in from the ’95 draft and said, ‘Guys, AFL football isn’t for everyone and you all probably think it is right now, but it’ll be some of you who will understand that it wasn’t for you because even though you’ve been drafted and you have the talent, you won’t make the commitment’.
“We all said, ‘What’s he talking about’, but he was bang on 100 per cent, and that’s probably where Tarryn is right now.”
Jimmy Bartel agreed that the Kangaroos needed to be strict on Thomas, but suggested he’d been given some leeway due to his talent.
“Talent does have currency. Because he was a pick eight and highly touted and we’ve seen glimpses of it, that’s probably why he gets the extra one or two opportunities,” he told Footy Classified.
“But I’ve said it before, playing AFL football is a privilege. We’re so lucky, we’ve dreamt of it, I wish I was still playing even though far too old and slow, but I wish I could play again.
“Take your chance because there are guys who are begging and scratching to just get in the door for a day.”
Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire praised the Kangaroos for welcoming Thomas back into the fold, saying he had the potential to be “the best story in football in a year’s time”.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” he told Footy Classified.
“We all say, ‘Why doesn’t he listen?’, well he’s not watching this show and he’s not reading The Age editorial or the Herald Sun, he is in a parallel universe.
“Alright, he gets his chance now, he is back in. They’ll have him around the place, don’t worry about playing, we’ve got to straighten him up. He’s got to get himself going again.
Bartel’s advice to maligned Kangaroo
“People have got to get him sorted out and get his life sorted out, and if he doesn’t play a game this year it doesn’t matter.
“We’ve seen too many players disappear, they get to 30 years of age and the penny drops, but it’s all done for them.
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“It’s not a welfare state, but at the same time, people who actually know these things, who are leaders at the club have more say than some bloke who’s 22 going, ‘What about me?’.
“This could be the best story in football in a year’s time, or he’s just another one who comes and goes.”
Thomas is currently contracted through to the end of the 2024 season with the Kangaroos.
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