Victorian prosecutors have abandoned a sexual assault case against Geelong player Tanner Bruhn and his friend Patrick Sinnott.

Mr Bruhn and Mr Sinnott were charged with sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman in a car after meeting her at the Alley Cats strip club in Geelong in February 2023.

Both men were also charged with rape.

The lifting of a nine-month suppression order means the ABC can finally reveal that Mr Bruhn was at the centre of the now-discontinued case.

A man in a suit and his lawyers walk past a court building sign

Tanner Bruhn and Patrick Sinnott leave court with their lawyers in September this year.   (ABC News)

A committal hearing in September was told the men travelled with the woman to a bottle shop car park and paid for sexual services.

The woman accused them of sexual assault and rape when they allegedly refused to comply with her demands for extra money.

Mr Bruhn and Mr Sinnott maintained their innocence and were set to fight the charges, before the case collapsed entirely on Tuesday when the Office of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charges.

Issues with the prosecution case emerged during the committal when witnesses testified that the complainant had lied to police.

One witness also admitted lying in his police statement and telling further lies under oath; one lie included an allegation that he had been physically attacked by one of the accused men.

“I had no memory of the two accused even being there, let alone the night,” he later said.

On Tuesday, Mr Bruhn’s defence barrister Dermot Dann KC described the case as “a horrible stain on the criminal justice system”.

Mr Dann said his client had been “to hell and back”, with his career put at risk.

Mr Sinnott’s barrister Moya O’Brien said she echoed Mr Dann’s comments, and said her client and his family had suffered due to publicity of the case.

The suppression order covering the case did not extend to Mr Sinnott when it was partially lifted in April.

Suppression order barred reporting of Bruhn case

Mr Bruhn, 23, joined the Cats from GWS in season 2023 and has played 36 games for Geelong.

He was charged earlier this year and did not feature for the Cats in the 2025 season.

The media was unable to fully report on Mr Bruhn’s prior court appearances due to a suppression order, which was granted on safety grounds.

The order banned anyone from linking Mr Bruhn to the case, but did little to stop speculation and rumours spreading on social media during the year.

Geelong and the AFL were not able to publicly explain the player’s absence during the season.

Mr Bruhn’s name was also removed from public court lists.

Mr Dann said those who’d attacked Mr Bruhn online “should step away from their keyboards and hang their heads in shame”.

“He should be regarded forever as someone who was 100 per cent innocent.”

Victoria Police has agreed to pay the men’s legal costs.