‘Am I going to get in trouble?’: How rape claim against Tanner Bruhn fell apart after witness admission

Geelong midfielder Tanner Bruhn can now be publicly named as the player who spent the entire 2025 season facing rape allegations, with the court case against him officially dropped on Tuesday.

A suppression order had prevented Bruhn, 23, from being named throughout the season, during which he did not play at any level due to the ongoing legal proceedings.

The media blackout was sought by Bruhn to protect his safety.

In a statement, Geelong confirmed Bruhn would return to the club’s football program for the start of pre-season training, adding it’d “provided professional welfare to Tanner during this time and will continue to do so”.

During a committal hearing last month, a key witness, Harrison Martin, admitted that he had lied to police in his statement and in the witness box, which led to reports the charges against the high-profile athlete would be dropped as of October 1

This followed a two-day preliminary hearing at Geelong Magistrates’ Court, which examined whether there was sufficient evidence for Bruhn and a second accused, his friend Patrick Sinnott, to stand trial.

The pair were each charged with two counts of sexual touching and one count of compelled sexual touching in February this year, which they have consistently denied. Bruhn was charged with two further counts of rape and Mr Sinnott was charged with one count of rape.

The AFL in a statement on Tuesday confirmed Bruhn had previously been stood down by the AFL from playing at any level of Australian Football, including AFL and VFL, pending the hearing and determination of those charges.

The AFL Players’ Association said the “long and flawed process” Bruhn was central to emphasised why a new AFL Code of Conduct had to be struck.

“We were also in constant dialogue with the AFL as the matter progressed,” the AFLPA statement read.

“Tanner was entitled to the presumption of innocence from the outset and throughout. It was clear to us that standing Tanner down would be premature and disproportionate.

“The Collective Bargaining Agreement requires the AFL and AFLPA to resolve a Code of Conduct including proper processes and a sanctioning framework. This unfortunate set of circumstances is further evidence that such a framework is critical for the game. We remain committed to this work in the best interests of the players and Australian football.”

On the first of two days in the witness box, Mr Martin gave an account of going out drinking with the woman before allegedly watching the two men force the woman into her car outside the strip club.

He also claimed that he’d been bashed by “the tall one” when attempting to intervene.

Mr Martin was pushed repeatedly on this by Mr Sinnott’s barrister Moya O’Brien, who said “from the moment these gentlemen arrive to the moment they leave” there was constant CCTV surveillance.

“I’m giving you an opportunity not to commit perjury,” she said.

“I’m not lying,” Mr Martin replied.

At the end of the day, the court was told Mr Martin had “raised a matter which requires independent legal advice” with police outside the courtroom.

Mr Martin told the court that he had been diagnosed with functional neurological disorder, a disorder that impacts memory and brain functioning and had little memory of the night in question.

He confirmed he’d never been assaulted and had been instructed by the alleged victim what to say in his statement to police.

“I wouldn’t go as far as a direct ‘this is what you need to say’, it was more a ‘you can’t remember so this is what happened’ if that makes sense,” Mr Martin said.

“The fact is I have no memory of the two accused really even being there in the first place, let alone the night.”

On September 19, the following day, the court was told Mr Martin had confessed to the officer that he’d lied.

“I am sorry. I lied in my police statement about the incident … Am I going to get in trouble?” he said.

He confirmed he’d never been assaulted and had been instructed by the alleged victim what to say in his statement to police.

“I wouldn’t go as far as a direct ‘this is what you need to say’, it was more a ‘you can’t remember so this is what happened’ if that makes sense,” Mr Martin said.

“The fact is I have no memory of the two accused really even being there in the first place, let alone the night.”

Mr Sinnott bowed his head as the charges were struck out, while Mr Bruhn appeared in court via video leaning against a white wall.

Outside court, Mr Bruhn’s lawyer Anna Balmer said her client was innocent of these crimes and had been falsely accused.

“While he’s thankful the court process has vindicated him, he’s understandably upset he had to go through the court process at all and that it’s taken nearly a year,” she said.

“Tanner wants to see those responsible for making these false allegations held to account and we should all hope Victoria Police properly investigate what appears to be an attempt to pervert the course of justice.”

Ms Balmer said the last year of Mr Bruhn’s life had “been horrible”, but he was grateful for the support of family, friends, Geelong Football Club, the AFL Players Association and his manager.

“Tanner wants to put this nightmare behind him and get on with playing football, he’s hopeful for the future and looking forward to getting back to doing what he loves,” she said.

Addressing the court, Mr Bruhn’s barrister Dermot Dann KC said the case represented a “horrible stain on the criminal justice system”.

Mr Dann said his client had been to “hell and back”, with his career on the line, and had been attacked by people online with seemingly no knowledge of the presumption of innocence in court proceedings.

“All those that did attack him should step away from their keyboards and hang their heads in shame,” he said.

Bruhn was interviewed by Victoria Police in October of last year over his knowledge of the allegations, and was released without arrest pending further investigation.

The Herald Sun’s Jay Clark reported on Tuesday afternoon that Bruhn spent time this year working on a farm in country Victoria, completing basic farming tasks to help take himself away from the footballing spotlight.

Bruhn played 66 AFL games in his first four seasons at the top level, 30 of which were at the GWS Giants before moving to the Cats.