'Sickening' hypocrisy after AFL's pledge to women

OPINION

There was a sickening sense of hypocrisy when reading through the AFL headlines on Wednesday evening.

The league issued a media release in the afternoon revealing a minute's silence will be conducted before each game this week as a sign of solidarity with women suffering violence at the hands of men.

READ MORE: Why Demetriou can buck infamous Bennett 'curse'

READ MORE: Becker relieved of 'perverse' bankruptcy ruling

READ MORE: Cleary's touching message for rival after 'terrible' axing

Bravo!

Violence against women is a scourge on this country and the events of the past couple of weeks have shaken the nation into action.

An organisation as large and influential as the AFL should be doing everything it can to help curb the national crisis.

But that revelation made Essendon coach Brad Scott's comments about Tarryn Thomas all the more concerning.

I've been a staunch Bombers fan for 25 years – my grandmother gave me a choice between supporting Hawthorn or Essendon, and I've been donning the sash ever since.

We've arguably endured more in the past two decades than any other AFL club, and still most long-suffering fans have stuck fat.

But if the Bombers hand a lifeline to Thomas, I will be tearing up my membership the same day.

How disappointing it was to hear our coach laud Thomas as "a good person" on the same day the AFL took a stand against mistreatment of women.

Thomas is currently serving an AFL-imposed 18-week ban and was sacked by North Melbourne following several allegations of mistreatment of women.

These allegations come after Thomas was suspended by North Melbourne in 2023 and initially charged by police with threatening to distribute an intimate image before prosecutors agreed to drop the charge in July and replace it with another offence of using a carriage service to harass. He did not record a conviction for a criminal offence.

Now it's come to light as many as five other clubs are interested in signing him for next season onwards.

Scott – who formerly worked as the AFL's general manager of football – queried "do we just wash our hands and say 'we're done with him'?".

Nine's Today reporter Christine Ahern posed the more pressing question on Thursday morning.

"Ultimately it's up to the AFL as to whether Tarryn Thomas returns to the game – so will they just hold moments of silence (for women)? The big question is will they actually take action," Ahern asked.

The tangible action the AFL – and clubs – can take is to turn their back on Thomas for good.

Geelong champion Jimmy Bartel was emotional when reacting to the Thomas news on Nine's Footy Classified on Wednesday night.

Bartel witnessed domestic violence against his mother at the hands of his father.

"I feel very uncomfortable with it. I get the whole premise of forgiveness and chances – he's had a number of chances for his alleged behaviour," Bartel said of a potential Thomas return.

"At some stage, there's got to be a fork in the road, because the forgiveness angle hasn't worked, because the (domestic violence) numbers are actually getting worse.

"I was part of a campaign that was seven years ago, trying to very visually put the AFL as a leader saying 'no' to domestic violence, starting conversations … and we're getting worse."

Scott's comments this week were concerning, and it seems it's solely now up to the AFL to put the kibosh on Thomas' professional career, because clubs are more interested in winning games than actually standing for something important.

This week sees a positive step towards acting against domestic violence, but all the good work will be undone if this player is allowed back into the game, having never shown any public remorse for his actions.

You can't stand with women and also support a man like Tarryn Thomas.