‘That’s it’: North boss storms out amid Blakey presser grilling
North Melbourne list boss Brady Rawlings walked out on journalists amid a tense line of questioning over the recruitment of suspended Swans star Nick Blakey.
The club were elated about the signing of Sydney based defender in the AFL trade period on Tuesday, but an abrupt exit from Rawlings’ press conference about the monster contract highlighted the issues Blakey’s arrival may bring.
Brady Rawlings walks out of the press conference. North Melbourne
Blakey officially joined the Roos in a deal that saw the Swans send him, pick 52 and a 2028 second-round selection to Arden Street, in exchange for picks six and 47, plus a 2027 second-rounder and North’s first and second-round 2028 picks.
Rawlings faced a grilling over the blockbuster move, which will see Blakey earn approximately $11 million across eight seasons.
Reporters pressed him on the club’s stance regarding Blakey’s involvement and suspension from the end of the 2026 season with Sydney as part of the Pullman Hotel saga, with a police investigation into an alleged incident still ongoing.
The boiling point arrived when a journalist drew a parallel to former North Melbourne player Tarryn Thomas, whose tenure at the club ended in disgrace following a string of off-field issues, including inappropriate behaviour towards a woman.
“Are you worried you could have another Tarryn Thomas situation (on your hands)?” the journalist asked Rawlings.
“I don’t know why that would come into play at all,” Rawlings responded.
At that point, Kangaroos media manager Michael Tormey stepped in to shut down the press conference entirely.
“I reckon we might call it here. We’re just getting the same questions over and over,” Tormey told media members in attendance.
When another reporter attempted to squeeze in a final question as Rawlings turned away, Tormey firmly ended the proceedings.
“Nah, that’s it, thanks guys,” he said as Rawlings walked out.
Prior to the walkout, Rawlings defended the recruitment from North Melbourne’s front office, insisting the club had done their “due diligence” around Blakey.
“We’ve clearly done our due diligence and gone through processes that we’re comfortable with, and we’ve known Nick and the family for a long time,” he said.
“We’re very comfortable with all the processes we went through to get to the point where we put an offer forward to Nick and obviously a big draft hand to security services as well.”
