Tarryn Thomas has spoken out in the wake of his latest controversy, with a video of him driving recklessly surfacing on Tuesday night.
Thomas, who has been stood down from North Melbourne due to allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women, was reportedly close to re-joining the club before the video surfaced. The clip, which was uploaded to Instagram, showed Thomas with his feet on the dashboard of his car while driving, captioned: “Living my best life”.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan spoke on the situation earlier on Wednesday, issuing Thomas an ultimatum.
“It's pretty clear from North Melbourne how they have dealt with it,” McLachlan told reporters.
“Tarryn has got to make a decision about what he wants to do with his future.
“He either comes back into the community and the fold and delivers on AFL and club standards as well as community expectations, or he won't participate.
“North have said that and I certainly agree with their position.
“It's out of his hands at the moment. Until he shows that he's willing to actually come back into the fold properly in a committed way, I don't think there's a decision to make.”
Speaking to 7 News' Mitch Cleary, Thomas said he was doing everything he could to return to the field with the Kangaroos.
"I'm very desperate to get back to playing the game I love and playing with my best friends" Thomas said.
"I'm doing everything I can to get back.
"The club has helped me and directed me. I've seen a lot of people outside of the club trying to get help and yeah, the club's doing an amazing job for me.
"I love watching them play and I can't wait to get out there."
North Melbourne confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that Thomas would not return to the club until he had met club and community expectations.
"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," a club statement read.
