Updated ,first published
An absent Isaac Heeney won the Swans’ best and fairest on Thursday night, as club chairman Andrew Pridham said ruling the players involved in the Pullman Hotel scandal ineligible would have been “inappropriate and in excess of the sanction”.
Heeney, who won the Bob Skilton Medal for the third consecutive year, did not attend the ceremony at Sydney’s Town Hall on Thursday night, along with four other players who were suspended by the club for breaching behavioural standards in August. Instead, captain Callum Mills accepted the award on his behalf before a video message from Heeney played on large screens, in which Heeney said he was excited to return for the 2027 season.
Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice were suspended until the end of the 2026 season for their involvement in a night of partying at the Pullman East Melbourne following the club’s round 23 win over Essendon on August 16.
Of the five, Warner, Blakey, and Jordon all finished in the top 10 in votes for the medal on Thursday night.
A separate police investigation is ongoing into allegations of sexual assault in a hotel room in which all five players were present. Bice was cleared of any criminal conduct by Victorian Police last month, but the remaining four players are still persons of interest in the police investigation. The players have maintained their innocence and denied any criminal wrongdoing.
Many in attendance at the ceremony stood to applaud when Heeney was announced as the Bob Skilton Medal winner. In the pre-recorded message, Heeney said: “When I was told about this honour, it was the first time I smiled and felt positive about the future in a long time.
“While I wasn’t able to attend the awards, I look forward to seeing you all again in person very soon.”
Heeney then thanked his family, partner Steffie Waters and the club for their support, before apologising to his teammates, the Swans AFLW team and their staff.
“From the depths of my heart, I’m truly sorry for putting you through the extreme difficulty you’ve had to endure, as it had a huge impact on the club,” he said.
“Every single day I was away from the club was heartbreaking, knowing that I couldn’t make a contribution. Every single day I think about what could have been … I’m incredibly excited about what this group can do. I can’t wait to get back and train with the boys, get better and attack next year together.”
Last week, the club confirmed the five were still eligible to win the Bob Skilton Medal despite the scandal, but said none would attend the awards ceremony in a request which was granted by the club.
At Thursday’s ceremony, Pridham began his speech by addressing the events in August and the five players’ eligibility for the award, saying “player conduct and performance are very separate matters” and that making the players ineligible would be “inappropriate and in excess of the sanction”.
“These players are not here tonight. I want to stress not because we did not want them to attend, nor that they did not want to be here; they were very keen to be here,” Pridham said.
“Rather, that they made it clear that they did not want their attendance to detract from the evening … These decisions to allow players to remain eligible does not diminish our concern and respect for everyone impacted by the incident. Likewise, the players involved, we’ll respect and continue to apply the presumption of innocence.”
Pridham was applauded and one attendee from the back of the room called out, “Absolutely”.
Votes for the Bob Skilton Medal are distributed by the team’s coaching staff based on player performance after every game, with each player eligible to receive up to five votes from a single member of staff.
A news update on the Swans website in June, when tickets for the gala occasion went on sale, referred to the Bob Skilton Medal as being awarded to “our best and fairest player”.
On Tuesday, an item with details of the night was loaded onto the Swans’ website, where the medal was described as going to “the club’s most valuable player”.
Despite missing the last three games of the season because of the suspension, Heeney finished with 431 votes. The runner-up, awarded the Adam Goodes Trophy – for the second year in a row – was ruckman Brodie Grundy who finished on 400 votes, followed by the Peter Bedford Trophy recipient, Charlie Curnow, with 398.
The five players involved in the Pullman scandal were also eligible to win the Brownlow Medal, awarded to the AFL’s best-and-fairest player, but the league banned them from attending the count in grand final week. Heeney finished with the most Brownlow votes of any Sydney Swan with 26, putting him in equal eighth place.
Also during the award ceremony on Thursday night, Grundy won the player’s player award, Logan McDonald received the player of the finals award, Jai Serong won most improved, while Will Edwards, who broke his leg late in the season, was voted the club’s rising star.
Captain Callum Mills and Billy Cootee shared the Barry Round best clubman award.
Mills tore his ACL during the Swans’ remarkable qualifying final win against the eventual premiers, the Brisbane Lions. He had acknowledged the pain of the Swans’ AFLW players in the days that followed the suspensions and apologised for the actions of the five teammates.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Friday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
