Swans’ Sh-o-ck Twist Before Saturday’s Final as Dean Cox Leaves Five-Star Door Open
Sydney Swans coach Dean Cox has refused to rule out the five players stood down by the club from attending their qualifying final on Saturday.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice were all stood down for the remainder of the 2026 season for breaching club standards by staying out late drinking and bringing exotic dancers to the Pullman Hotel in Melbourne on the morning of Monday, August 17.
Victoria Police are continuing their investigation into an alleged sexual assault, with Heeney, Warner, Jordon and Blakey all being formally interviewed.
Bice, who reportedly booked the adult entertainers and was present in the room when the alleged incident took place, is now being treated as a witness.
The five players from the Sydney Swans that have been suspended for the rest of the season are (L-R) James Jordon, Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice and Nick Blakey
The Swans players have denied any criminal wrongdoing, and no charges have been laid.
Swans head coach Cox gave an update on the situation on Thursday morning and insisted the five remain stood down.
However, he did not dismiss the possibility of them being at the SCG on Saturday afternoon when the Swans take on defending premiers the Lions for a place in the preliminary finals.
A reporter questioned Cox as to whether they could be “here to support at the qualifying final” and if there is any way of “potentially integrating them back into the club before the end of the season”.
To which Cox replied: “That changes daily. The statement got put out yesterday by Victoria Police and the footy club, so we’re unsure about what the nature of it looks like.
“We’ll continue to have those conversations internally and get the best balance between what the footy club needs and also the support of those players.”
On his discussions with the five players, he continued: “My first part of the conversation has only been about how they’re going. I haven’t touched on anything to do with the investigation. I think that’s the best way forward with that.
Dean Cox refused to confirm whether or not the Sydney Swans players that have been stood down will attend the qualifying final on Saturday (Picture: Fox Sports)
“It’s about what I can do to help you through this period. There is an investigation still going. We need to get all the facts before we make any assumptions about what it looks like. We stand really firm with that.
“At this stage all five will stay stood down. There’s so many things we need to talk about, not for today.”
The Swans head into their game against the Lions as underdogs with five of their key players missing due to the ongoing investigation.
They finished their regular season with a 53-point win over North Melbourne, a performance Cox says he was “proud” of given the circumstances.
And the Swans coach still believes his team can perform despite the off-field turmoil.
“One thing we’ve always seen at this football club is we stand together,” he added.
“The players understand the leadership of this footy club and have as much belief in this group to achieve what we want to achieve.
“For the majority of the year, we’ve shown the brand and style of footy we play has put us in position to have a big impact and earn a qualifying final. They’re focused on what they’ve got to do against Brisbane and the opportunity that presents itself.
“There’s still an expectation. You’re hosting a qualifying final at home with a chance to go into a prelim. There’s still a hell of a lot at stake for our football club, not just Brisbane.
“That’s one thing I want to make sure our players are aware of, the magnitude of this game for our football club and we’ve spent so long trying to get to. They’re a great football team but this one is as well.”
The police are investigating an alleged sexual assault at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne (Picture: Mark Stewart)
It was revealed by Victoria Police on Wednesday they have or will be speaking to three men “solely as witnesses” in relation to their investigation into the alleged sexual assault.
The Swans issued a statement of their own insisting “the wellbeing of those impacted remains of paramount importance”.
And Cox has acknowledged the club needs to improve its standards.
He said: “We want to become a better football club. We always strive to be that.
“There will be an opportunity to work through what happened. From there it’s about trying to make sure we can go forward in a better, more sustainable way.”
Four senior Swans staff members, including Cox, have provided statements to police.
Head of football Leon Cameron, communications boss Tom Chadwick and head of wellbeing and development Brett Kirk gave statements to police.
None of the four club officials were in the room when the women were there and alleged they were assaulted.
It comes as Heeney deleted his Instagram account. He had 115,000 followers on the social media platform, but his account has been deactivated — an error message appears when attempting to view his profile.
“Sorry, this page isn’t available,” the error message reads.
“The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.”
The 30-year-old’s fiancee Steffanie Waters has travelled away from their Sydney home and headed to Noosa to escape the scandal. The couple got engaged in French Polynesia last October.
The four other players still have active Instagram accounts but have not posted since the scandal.
The five Swans players were ruled ineligible for selection in the AFL’s All-Australian team and have also been banned from attending the Brownlow Medal on September 21.
Heeney’s sponsorship deals with Colgate and Telstra have been suspended, his children’s book series has been pulled from shelves and he has been dropped from the kids’ football camps program he helped start.
Kmart has removed collectable bobbleheads of Sydney Swans stars, including Heeney and Warner, from sale.
