When the siren sounded at about 7.20pm on Sunday night at the MCG, a smiling Isaac Heeney spoke enthusiastically of the weeks to come.
By comfortably beating the bottom-placed Essendon, Sydney had secured second place with a round to play, paving a rails run for the Swans to the last Saturday of September with two home finals.
“We’ve done a lot of work to make sure that if we get back to the last day we’ll make sure we’re mentally ready and physically really prepared,” Heeney said in a post-match interview with Fox Footy on the MCG.
“We’re excited for it, I think that’s the biggest thing. You’ve got to be excited and want it, and the boys do. Hopefully, we can perform well next week and into finals.”
The wild events of the ensuing 12 hours means, from a football point of view, there will be no next week or finals for Heeney, or teammates Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice.
The five were suspended for the rest of the season by the Swans on Wednesday for breaching behavioural standards by staying out late, drinking and inviting women back to their hotel room.
The players have since issued a statement apologising for breaching the club’s standards. But according to a source with knowledge of their position, they have denied criminal wrongdoing.
Their night of debauchery has ruined Sydney’s season, destroyed the reputations of the cleanskin Swans and their pin-up boys, and left the sport with uncomfortable discussions about their treatment of women.
The Swans, who boast to being the most-supported club in the country, are one of the powerhouses of the AFL. This year will be their 25th finals appearance in 31 seasons. No club in that time has qualified for more grand finals than their eight.
They were the last club expected to be caught up in a scandal that has drawn condemnation from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek, both sides of politics in Victoria and wide sections of the community.
Heeney, the Swans’ best, most popular and most marketable player, is at the centre of a police investigation over an incident that unfolded in the early hours of Monday morning in a room at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel. A woman who visited the room has alleged she was sexually assaulted by a player.
The exact events of what took place remain unclear but what is clear is the brazenness of the five Swans, who hired exotic dancers to come to their room while teammates, coaches and club staff slept in rooms on the same floor.
Two sources familiar with the police investigation, but not authorised to speak publicly, confirmed drugs were involved in the early morning incident. However, both said the Swans teammates had denied being responsible for the drugs being there or taking them.
Their night of partying is more synonymous with an end-of-season footy trip than the actions of a club a fortnight before the finals that, until this week, had been seen as a leading contender for the premiership.
The fallout has been far-reaching.
THE SUSPENSIONS
The Sydney board’s decision to put principles over performance had echoes of Cricket Australia’s call in 2018 to ban then-captain Steve Smith and vice captain David Warner for a year for their role in the ball-tampering scandal.
Heeney, Warner and Blakey are three of their best five players and would likely have been named in the AFL’s All-Australian team if they had not been barred from selection by the league. James Jordon is the team’s best tagger and Riley Bice an up-and-coming running defender.
“To effectively torpedo our season by making a decision such as this tells you how seriously we’re taking this,” chairman Andrew Pridham said on Wednesday after the penalties were released.
Colgate, Volkswagen, Nike, Telstra and publishing house Allen & Unwin are among those who have either suspended or paused endorsement deals with the players. QBE and realestate.com.au have released statements condemning abuse or violence against women but have not withdrawn their support of the Swans.
The saga has rocked the Swans’ dressing room. For club stalwarts Dane Rampe, 36, and Jake Lloyd, 32, who have played in four losing grand finals, this may be their last chance to win what has been an elusive premiership. The Swans’ strong culture was a major factor in star recruit Charlie Curnow, now on the cusp of winning a third Coleman Medal, coming to the club from Carlton.
A source close to players at the club told this masthead nobody knows if any of the five will play for the Swans again. Skipper Callum Mills on Friday denied there was a rift in the dressing room but deflected questions about the same matter, saying the suspensions were not a football issue and that he supported the sanctions.
Swans AFLW captain Lucy McEvoy “absolutely” wants the club’s women to be consulted before the Swans reintegrate the five.
Though supportive of the Swans’ season-ending bans, the AFL has the power to slap the players with further punishments after the police investigations.
THE SHAME
Swans supporters in Sydney take pride in their club’s wholesome image compared with rugby league.
Revered Swans such as Adam Goodes, Brett Kirk and Michael O’Loughlin have personified the club’s famed Bloods culture, written on butcher’s paper at a training camp ahead of Paul Roos’ first full season as coach in 2003 and carried through under the club’s longest-serving coach John Longmire, and now in question under current coach Dean Cox.
“The players vowed to be a ‘hard, relentless, disciplined unit’; there would be ‘no weak efforts, no excuses, no shortcuts’; they committed to being ‘respectful to the club 24/7’, to showing ‘enthusiasm at all times’ and to ‘support[ing] your mates at all cost’,” Longmire wrote in his autobiography Pain, Perspective & Premierships.
Nearly all parts of that mantra were violated at the Pullman.
The scandal has cut deep for all who love the red and the white. Staff outside the football department are shattered, according to a source close to Swans employees.
A crestfallen Longmire spoke for many associated with the Swans when he addressed the matter in his weekly segment on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 program.
“It took a while for that to sink in, and then incredible disappointment, and then just deep sadness,” Longmire said.
“I guess, like everybody, whether you’re closely connected to this, or further out in the layers, or you’re a supporter or member, the emotions I don’t think have to be guessed too much.
“Those emotions were all a part of it; it was just incredible, deep sadness in the end, and that’s probably where we’re still sitting.”
Former players, usually proud of their association with the Swans, are ashamed of the club they love.
“You walk with your head a lot lower,” one former player, granted anonymity so they could speak candidly about the matter, told this masthead.
Former captain Kieren Jack, a member of the 2012 premiership team, echoed this sentiment publicly in a post to his Instagram account which also empathised with the women.
“Like so many people who love the Swans I am devastated, disappointed and very troubled by the actions that took place over the weekend,” Jack wrote. “My thoughts are with the women involved and I truly hope they are being supported.
“Wearing red and white was one of the proudest achievements of my life. It was a privilege to represent.
“‘Bloods culture’ is spoken about. This was built and maintained through a core pillar of respect.
“Respect for each other, respect for the club, your family, the opponent, supporters and importantly, community.
“Right now this feels broken. A lack of respect for women cannot be tolerated. Being a bystander is not an option. If you love the Swans, if you love footy, it is time to stand up.”
THE FALLEN IDOL
Fans are stunned that it’s Heeney, their exquisitely skilled 30-year-old vice captain with the physical toughness to accompany his movie star looks, who has been embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of the AFL era.
Heeney is a fan favourite who readily gives up his time for supporters. Players at club functions tend to keep to themselves but Heeney often initiates interactions with guests.
One regular at these club functions this week described Heeney as polite and courteous right from the start when he was a shy 18-year-old.
A high-profile Swans supporter noted how long it would take the star to leave a room, so prepared was Heeney to go above and beyond expectations. This supporter was in shock upon learning of Heeney’s involvement.
“I can’t even get my head around it,” the supporter said.
These anecdotes are included not to portray Heeney as a hero but how heavily he has crashed.
Personal sponsors have paused their deals with him and the publisher of his second kids’ book has put the project on hold. He has also lost the chance to spearhead the Swans’ finals campaign.
TREATMENT OF WOMEN
The sordid saga has raised issues regarding how football treats women. Many have been critical of how crimes against women perpetrated by players are framed through the perspective of the implications for a club’s season rather than the perspective of the complainant.
In this instance, the complainant has been propelled into the national spotlight while dealing with the trauma of an alleged sexual assault.
Chief executive Matthew Pavlich was criticised by many, including former AFLW star Kate McCarthy, for his choice of words in saying players had “found themselves in this situation”.
Academic Catharine Lumby, who worked as a pro bono gender advisor to the NRL, said it was time the AFL followed the NRL in introducing a no-fault stand down policy for players charged with criminal offences.
In defending Pavlich, Lumby praised the Swans for taking the stance they have.
“It’s what he and the board have done rather than what he said at the press conference that concerns me,” Lumby said.
“Credit where it’s due. They’re prepared to torpedo the premiership. You can’t get more serious than that.”
Such a policy would not be relevant in the Swans case as no police charges have been laid.
“I believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty but that has to be balanced with the message the game sends to fans about what they stand against,” Lumby told this masthead.
“If a player is charged with a serious assault or sexual assault then yes I would support them being stood aside. The AFL and clubs can make it very clear they’re innocent until proven guilty and still receive support.
“In the NRL, players and partners and families are offered counselling. They’re not just dumped but definitely not allowed to play until the matter is resolved.”
Geelong’s Tanner Bruhn missed all of last season after being charged with rape and sexual assault, but the charges were dropped last November after a witness admitted to lying in his police statement.
Lumby accepted those wrongly accused, like Bruhn, could feel aggrieved in such situations but said people in other professions would also be stood down pending a trial.
“There is a privilege with playing at the elite level. You don’t have to sign up for that, but when you sign up for the elite league, there’s lots of privilege but also consequences.
“It’s a policy you sign up to, and you’re fully aware of the consequences of that. Innocent until proven guilty goes to the core of our criminal justice system. The DPP does not lightly lay charges, it doesn’t mean everyone charged is guilty.
“Before police, through the DPP, lay charges, there’s a process of assessing evidence in the balance.
“Beyond reasonable doubt? That’s up to the courts. I think on balance it’s fair to stand a player aside with support on full salary and being allowed to train.”