Alleged incident at hotel on Sunday night

[Roadrunner]

I think we need to cool our jets a little ladies and gentleman

no 1 - is making sure anyone who has made an allegation is supported and treated with the up most respect right at this moment

second is due process

lastly who cares about footy right now

none of u should as there should be no link at all to how this situation is navigated and dealt with professionally

justice and due process is no 1

I'm sure we will all know a lot more soon and any of our guesses are probably not even relevant at the minute

Auntie, support for any victim/s is of course a first priority. I have confidence in the Police to fully investigate the allegations and hope that it won’t take very long, without them being rushed. As this is such a serious matter our club is caught up in a very difficult situation and as we are a football club, naturally we care about footy so I’m not sure how you can think otherwise.

[Syd76]

Great statement by the club. Period.. let it now all play out

[Syd76]

The Sydney Swans can confirm that the Club Board will meet tonight to agree on player sanctions and penalties, now that the Club has concluded its interviews with all the players involved in the incident in Melbourne.

We respect there is an ongoing investigation by Victoria Police and any actions we take are independent of this.

The Club believes the players are in serious breach of expected Club behaviour and standards, and it is appropriate to take firm action and highlight that any sanction we impose relates solely to those breaches.

The Club also acknowledges that these serious allegations impact others and their wellbeing must be paramount.

The Sydney Swans condemn all forms of abuse and disrespectful behaviour towards women. Any conduct that causes offence or harm to others is unacceptable and falls well short of our expectations. All women deserve to be respected and feel safe.

[Syd76]

We also want to acknowledge that the care and welfare of our AFLW athletes and staff is of the utmost importance to us as a Club. They have been and will continue to be offered the support they require and we acknowledge the impact these allegations have on our female athletes, staff members and the wider community.

Any further sanctions or decisions regarding the outcome of the police investigation would take place after that process is completed.

During this time, we will provide the appropriate support to the players involved in the incident, along with their partners and families.

The Sydney Swans hold all players and staff at the Club to high standards of behaviour and personal conduct. Representing this Club carries significant responsibilities both on and off the field, and we expect those standards to be upheld at all times.

Our focus remains on cooperating fully with the AFL and authorities, maintaining the integrity of the process, and upholding the high standards expected of everyone who represents this Club.

[imuninformedtwo]

It’s a good statement, and a club in no mood to tolerate what happened.

[stevoswan]

Auntie, support for any victim/s is of course a first priority. I have confidence in the Police to fully investigate the allegations and hope that it won’t take very long, without them being rushed. As this is such a serious matter our club is caught up in a very difficult situation and as we are a football club, naturally we care about footy so I’m not sure how you can think otherwise.

Well put. I for one still care about the footy. Despite the sordid nature of this situation, the world goes on.

[lwjoyner]

I was prepared to defen them on what i thought whaat went on. I was under the assumption that it all ocurred outside of the hotel, but in tonights mid week tackle they said it was in a room . it thats true i find t difficult to forgive.

[UUaswan]

Suspend them a game, big fine, mostly suspended.

No point throwing away a whole @@@@ing season for an unproven allegation against 1 Player.

On a side note, the club needs to stay in its @@@@ing lane stop taking the moral high ground on issues outside the 4 walls. We have 70+ 18 to 35yr old employees, alot with endless money all subject to the society norms and then some for that demographic, Worry about your own backyard, hypocrisy is undefeated

[Dow]

Suspend them a game, big fine, mostly suspended.

No point throwing away a whole @@@@ing season for an unproven allegation against 1 Player.

On a side note, the club needs to stay in its @@@@ing lane stop taking the moral high ground on issues outside the 4 walls. We have 70+ 18 to 35yr old employees, alot with endless money all subject to the society norms and then some for that demographic, Worry about your own backyard, hypocrisy is undefeated

Can't agree with this, lengthy spells must be handed out -
regardless of the police investigation,
club standards surely have been breached in such away that a massive statement must be made

[mcs]

Can't agree with this, lengthy spells must be handed out -
regardless of the police investigation,
club standards surely have been breached in such away that a massive statement must be made

Agree. I suspect none of the 4 (or 5 or however many it may may not be) will play again this season. The AFL rules around bringing the game into disrepute only allow suspension for 2 weeks I believe, whereas clubs of course can sanction players for longer. I can't see any world in which it will be tolerated for any of them to play again this season, unless any of them really were innocent of any involvement, but assisting police because they had important information.

It will blow our chances this season sky high - but that is the price that will have to be paid as a club.

[dejavoodoo44]

It’s a good statement, and a club in no mood to tolerate what happened.

Yes, and while I don’t want to speculate too much on what actually happened, because I'd only be guessing based what I've read online, I feel like adding my perception to what was in that statement.

This bit caught my eye: "The Club believes the players are in serious breach of expected Club behaviour and standards, and it is appropriate to take firm action".

Which is later reinforced by this: "The Sydney Swans condemn all forms of abuse and disrespectful behaviour towards women."

Which suggests to me, that they won't just be handing out light sanctions for staying out late and having a few drinks. They believe that something significantly more problematic occurred, and that it's not just a case of one perpetrator and three or four witnesses. And accordingly, more than one player will be hit with the sort of sanctions that will in all likelihood, severely damage our premiership chances. Which I think is appropriate. I don't want to see something like, "well, we're giving them all two weeks, and with the wildcard round, that means that they're back for the qualifying final." Otherwise, it will just be a big signal, that the club doesn't really stand for the values that it claims to stand for.

And personally, if the offences are as serious as they appear, I'd like to see some public shaming of the offenders. That is, have them front a press conference and have them apologise to the rest of the team, for totally derailing the season. Have them apologise to the rest of the staff, for making much of the year's work worthless. And have them apologise to us fans, many of whom appear to be wondering, things like: should I bother showing up for the next game? should I wear my Swans gear outside? should I renew my membership? etc.

And depending on the seriousness of the offences, and the legalities of contract law, I also think that there might be a case to terminate a contract or two. Even of players, who by their playing record, might seem to be the players that we can least afford to lose.

[Nico]

What I find interesting is the statement appears to only refer to the police investigation. I can't see anything that refers to the players being out late or on the turps. The fact that Heeney is the only player who spoke to the police means nothing if he is not charged, yet there are people who appear to have him hung,drawn and quartered. Yesterday Wilson said there were 5-7 players involved. Now there is only one player supposedly involved? Who knows, Heeney may gone to the police on behalf of the other players. If nothing comes of this I bet those jounos who have thrown stones don't come out and apologise. Talk about a can of worms.

[Nico]

Yes, and while I don’t want to speculate too much on what actually happened, because I'd only be guessing based what I've read online, I feel like adding my perception to what was in that statement.

This bit caught my eye: "The Club believes the players are in serious breach of expected Club behaviour and standards, and it is appropriate to take firm action".

Which is later reinforced by this: "The Sydney Swans condemn all forms of abuse and disrespectful behaviour towards women."

Which suggests to me, that they won't just be handing out light sanctions for staying out late and having a few drinks. They believe that something significantly more problematic occurred, and that it's not just a case of one perpetrator and three or four witnesses. And accordingly, more than one player will be hit with the sort of sanctions that will in all likelihood, severely damage our premiership chances. Which I think is appropriate. I don't want to see something like, "well, we're giving them all two weeks, and with the wildcard round, that means that they're back for the qualifying final." Otherwise, it will just be a big signal, that the club doesn't really stand for the values that it claims to stand for.

And personally, if the offences are as serious as they appear, I'd like to see some public shaming of the offenders. That is, have them front a press conference and have them apologise to the rest of the team, for totally derailing the season. Have them apologise to the rest of the staff, for making much of the year's work worthless. And have them apologise to us fans, many of whom appear to be wondering, things like: should I bother showing up for the next game? should I wear my Swans gear outside? should I renew my membership? etc.

And depending on the seriousness of the offences, and the legalities of contract law, I also think that there might be a case to terminate a contract or two. Even of players, who by their playing record, might seem to be the players that we can least afford to lose.

From the statement they have spoken to the players supposedly involved, and more than likely had a team meeting.

[mcs]

What I find interesting is the statement appears to only refer to the police investigation. I can't see anything that refers to the players being out late or on the turps. The fact that Heeney is the only player who spoke to the police means nothing if he is not charged, yet there are people who appear to have him hung,drawn and quartered. Yesterday Wilson said there were 5-7 players involved. Now there is only one player supposedly involved? Who knows, Heeney may gone to the police on behalf of the other players. If nothing comes of this I bet those jounos who have thrown stones don't come out and apologise. Talk about a can of worms.

I suspect that was deliberate in terms of the statement. They do make it clear the sanctions will only relate to breaches of club standards etc - which is deliberate as they do not want to prejudice the investigation etc and what may/may not come out of it. So it is clear the being out late/on the turps element/whatever constituted a breach of the standards for which the Swans will punish them. The AFL may effectively do the same for bringing the game into broader disrepute as well - again so the police investigation can take its course.

That way, if the investigation turns up nothing/case falls apart/whatever, then there is still a clear justification for the sanctions the club & AFL have put in place.

An option that wouldn't surprise me is if we stand them all down for the rest of the season, and then the AFL adds 2 weeks at the beginning of 2027 onto it (the max they can give out I understand), and then of course anyone charged gets the Bruhn treatment.

I think that approach would largely meet expectations of the community around the club taking it deeply seriously, and putting it above the reproach of football results, allow the AFL their chance to add their punishment, without it inhibiting the ability of those players to be reintegrated if they are not charged (which I suspect is highly likely for the majority - the one prime person being involved in the incident appears to be the most likely scenario).

Only time will tell.

[mcs]

And personally, if the offences are as serious as they appear, I'd like to see some public shaming of the offenders. That is, have them front a press conference and have them apologise to the rest of the team, for totally derailing the season. Have them apologise to the rest of the staff, for making much of the year's work worthless. And have them apologise to us fans, many of whom appear to be wondering, things like: should I bother showing up for the next game? should I wear my Swans gear outside? should I renew my membership? etc.

And depending on the seriousness of the offences, and the legalities of contract law, I also think that there might be a case to terminate a contract or two. Even of players, who by their playing record, might seem to be the players that we can least afford to lose.

I don't think making people front press conferences is going to be a great thing to do - the media frenzy is already horrendous, and all that will do is add to it. They aren't going to say anything that is genuinely going to change the facts of the matter (Indeed they won't be able to say anything about that). They can say sorry sure, but does it really fix anything. There would be more value in them, during their suspension and across the summer and beyond, being forced to take meaningful other actions off the park.

Most fans are wanting to see a genuine response from the club as an entity - to see it live up to the expectations it has created around itself as a professional sporting club and a club that claims to have a high quality culture. I think that is of far greater value then a repeat of what they did to Steve Smith and co after the ball tampering issue (I.e. this would be amplified 10x on that).

As for contract termination, the bar there is clear. Elijiah Taylor's case sets the precedence, as does others. Anyone charged will be stood down indefinitely, anyone convicted or pleading guilty to major offences will have their contracts terminated. It might get murky if some are charged with lesser offences (who knows what might come out of the police investigation), but I suspect that is unlikely.

They won't terminate contracts without that level of basis to do so in my opinion, because it will open the club up to all sorts of potential contract/employment law recriminations, some of which they could easily lose in Fair Work or similar potentially. The precedent more broadly is pretty clear in that space, and I don't think anything will vary here. They certainly won't jump early on contract terminations - despite the protestations of some that they should.

After all, a professional football club is a workplace, and employment laws create a framework in which they must operate. I think the threshold for termination is only likely to be reached if charged and convicted, as per the Taylor example.