An emerging champion and football's death row: The difference four draft picks can make in a narrative
Well, isn't it amazing the difference four picks in the draft can make.
In 2018, North Melbourne was looking for a midfielder and after some trading and some pick swapping, ironically with Port Adelaide, they elected to match Adelaide's bid at pick eight and take a young lad originally from Sydney, but who lived now in Tasmania, who'd been in their academy since he was 15.
His name was Tarryn Thomas. 190 centimeters, 78 kilograms, sublimely talented, creative, highly skilled, a potential generational talent.
He was however prone to being late for training, missing the bus and appointments that a young fellow in a professional era looking to build a career should never miss more than once, along with some more serious transgressions that raise some major red flags.
North Melbourne accepted his foibles, ignored the red flags and backed in the fact that everyone has weaknesses that need to be addressed and stood on draft night and named the precocious talent to lead their rebuild.
Just four picks later, Port Adelaide stood up and nominated another midfielder six months younger than Tarryn Thomas short by comparison, at just 181cms but at the same weight at 78 kg.
His name? Zak Butters. Five years on, Butters has just been named the vice-captain of Port Adelaide having won the best and fairest last year, the prestigious AFL coaches Player of the Year award and an All-Australian jumper for the first time.
He's played 93 games and kicked 55 goals and he was named the best 22-year-old and under in 2020.
In the career highlights column on Wikipedia for Tarryn Thomas, there is a blank, there's nothing. He's played 69 games and kicked 56 goals and the chances of him playing another is, as we all know, at best remote. Just four picks separated two midfielders, one of which is currently a celebrated young champion.
The other sits on football's death row waiting for the verdict on his footballing life.
This is a stuff up of significant proportions by North Melbourne, whose previous recruitment and development departments must acknowledge it was a serious error.
In hindsight, they'd be frustrated, of course and rightfully so given how many resources they plowed into the at times wayward talent, but ultimately, it's a results business and you get the bouquets for the successes and the brickbats for the failures and this is a high quality failure.
But given what transpired over the past 12 months, I have some sympathy for the undoubted frustrations with Thomas, for he simply wouldn't conform like your average normal talented 18-year-old, 19, 20 21-year-old.
After a significant brush with the law involving domestic violence last year, he was lucky to be given a second chance.
But the new administration with a legendary coach again threw significant time and resources into supporting Tarryn through 2023 on and off the field and he rewarded them by taking no heed of the serious counselling and guidance and transgressed again.
Ultimately, that is totally a Tarryn Thomas problem, not development, not recruiting. That's Tarryn Thomas's problem. And only Tarryn Thomas can sort it out whether his football playing career continues or not.
Ultimately, rule number one in drafting is you don't fail with your top 10 pick, something North has quickly rectified having learnt a painful lesson about red flags.
And rule number one for a player: well, if it is to be, it is up to me. It's a truism for every player that's pulled on a boot for centuries.
And it's absolutely true for Tarryn Thomas right now.
The only question is, is he capable of finally learning a lesson? Isn't it amazing what difference four draft picks makes.