The five Sydney players who were suspended for the remainder of the AFL season after an alleged incident at the Pullman Hotel last month will remain eligible for the club’s best and fairest, but have requested not to attend the night.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordan and Riley Bice were all stood down for breaching club standards after the Swans’ Round 24 win over Essendon in Melbourne, and four of them remain the subjects of a Victoria Police investigation. Riley Bice is being treated as a witness only.
But none of them will be at the Swans’ awards night, where Heeney will likely be the red-hot favourite to win his third Bob Skilton Medal.
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“The 2026 Sydney Swans AFL awards night will take place at Sydney Town Hall on October 1,” Sydney said in a statement released on Friday afternoon.
“Eligibility and voting criteria for the Bob Skilton Medal remains unchanged from previous years. All players who represented the club in season 2026 will be eligible.
“However, we can confirm Nick Blakey, Riley Bice, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Chad Warner have requested not to attend the awards night, and this has been agreed to by the club.”
The quintet returned to the club to face their coaches and teammates, plus Swans staff, for the first time on Wednesday evening, having not been sighted at all since the alleged incident.
A throng of media awaited as Warner and Bice, followed by Jordan, Heeney and Blakey, walked into the club for their exit interviews.
Warner said he was “just here for my exit meetings”, and added “I don’t know” when asked whether he was looking forward to the chance to apologise to teammates.
Heeney said he was “looking forward to addressing my teammates” but didn’t answer any other questions.
Leaving the club less than an hour later, Heeney said he addressed the playing group and Swans staff.
“It was really nice to address the whole club, and I’m just really thankful they could give us their time and understanding. It was really good,” Heeney said before walking away and refusing questions.
The Agenda Setters’ Caroline Wilson said on Tuesday night the playing group was “torn” over whether the five players should be eligible for any awards, or even be there on the night.
“Speaking to the Swans earlier tonight, they had still not decided whether those players would be welcome at that event and whether they would be eligible to win the award,” Wilson said earlier this week.
“I’m told that the players were still torn on that. There are some board members who feel one way, some who feel the other.”
The players were eligible to win the Brownlow Medal but weren’t allowed to attend the ceremony.
