FORMER Geelong and North Melbourne player Cameron Thurley is in a critical condition with head injuries after falling down stairs at a Hobart bar in the early hours of Saturday.

Thurley, who now captains Tasmanian State League side Clarence, had surgery to remove fluid from his brain on Sunday, local media reported.

The 31-year-old was celebrating after the club's best-and-fairest awards on Friday.

CCTV footage shows he fell down a flight of stairs when leaving Hobart's Observatory Bar alone.

Thurley played seven games for Geelong in 2005 and five for the Kangaroos in 2006.