Further details emerge on St Kilda’s Thomas meeting as Lyon weighs in

Channel Nine’s Tom Morris has added further details to his report that St Kilda met with former North Melbourne player Tarryn Thomas at a Carlton restaurant on Tuesday.

Thomas was sacked by the Kangaroos in February after the AFL found him guilty of inappropriate behaviour towards women. He’s since been charged with harassment and breaching a court order and will face court in November.

As Thomas isn’t eligible to play at any level until the case is decided, Morris says the meeting between Thomas and the Saints was to simply explore if he could be a fit at Moorabbin if he is ever given approval to return to the AFL at some stage.

Morris says that there’s a view amongst rival clubs that if Thomas does return to the AFL after his court case, then he’s likely to be picked up by St Kilda if any club is willing to recruit him.

“They met at a big Carlton restaurant called Donnini’s on Lygon St,” Morris told SEN Breakfast.

“They spoke for about an hour. Graeme Allen who is really the list guru behind the scenes at the Saints and Tarryn Thomas (were the ones that met).

“Speaking to the Saints last night and people around the situation, there is very little doubt that if the AFL approves Thomas to play football again - which is a big if given the impending court case - then the Saints will at least explore it.

“They're keeping tabs on him, they want to make sure that he's doing okay and if it does get to that (approval), he’ll want to go to them.

“They just want to make sure that it’s an option for them down the track. There is a clear view among rival clubs that if he is going to get picked up at all, then St Kilda would be that club.

“But there's still a lot of water to go under the bridge before that happens.”

In response to Morris’ report, Lyon says he wouldn’t recruit Thomas following his court case no matter the 24-year-old’s talent.

Instead, he’d only consider taking a meeting with the midfielder if he can prove that he’s learned from his ‘horrendous mistakes’ at a lower level away from the AFL spotlight for at least one full season.

“With the Tarryn Thomas stuff, if I’m an AFL club I’m saying,  ‘If you want a play AFL footy, that’s great, but go and prove to us that you can go and play at a lower level’,” Lyon said.

“Whether it's VFL or interstate - I don't care what level it is - for a year or two years go and put your head down and show that you've got contrition and own your actions.

“Only then would I take a lunch meeting with you. That's the way I would see that. I wouldn't consider Tarryn Thomas until I'd seen him get through a year or maybe two somewhere else.

“It's not about the money, playing at the top level and the thrill of being known as an AFL player.

“Go off the grid, get yourself right, show and demonstrate that you've learned from some of the horrendous mistakes you made.”

Thomas played 69 games for the Roos after being taken with pick No. 8 in the 2018 Draft.

He’s due to face court on November 21.