Revealed: The Swans players who could be stood down on finals eve amid sexual assault investigation

Key Sydney Swans players are at the centre of a Victoria Police sexual assault investigation putting their immediate playing futures under a cloud and plunging the club’s finals campaign into turmoil.

The investigation relates to an allegation of sexual assault at an East Melbourne hotel hours after the team’s victory over Essendon at the MCG on Sunday night.

This masthead has contacted the representatives of Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice, James Jordon, Chad Warner and one other player after two senior industry sources said they were spoken to by police after an allegation of sexual assault in the early hours of Monday morning. This masthead is not suggesting all five players are under investigation by police, just that they are assisting with enquiries.

The group of five were driving home to Sydney in a rental car on Monday night.

A manager representing a fifth player denied his client was one of the players involved.

The five players are unlikely to play this week regardless of the police investigation, as the Swans consider potential sanctions for late-night drinking at the team hotel, which is funded by the AFL, after a match.

Asked whether they were considering standing down the players, the Swans said all options were open as they worked through the facts of what happened. This was confirmed by a senior AFL source. The players were not arrested.

Police asked to review CCTV footage from the Pullman East Melbourne as part of their investigation.

Plain clothes officers went inside hotel rooms and left the venue with a number of items in evidence bags, according to a witness to the police visit. They also asked for footage from cameras that cover public areas of the hotel such as the lobby, stairs and lifts.

The Swans have been left “shocked and disappointed” amid the investigation, which focuses on the actions of a group of players in the early hours of Monday morning.

The team was staying at the Pullman after their victory over Essendon at the nearby MCG.

Sydney chief executive Matthew Pavlich briefly fronted media in Sydney on Monday to address the alleged incident.

“We’re still piecing together exactly what’s transpired here and have our own set of internal inquiries ongoing. It’s safe to say that we’re extremely shocked and disappointed that this has taken place and that the players have found themselves in this situation,” Pavlich said.

“We understand the level of interest in the matter. There’s going to be lots of speculation, but given it’s a police matter right now, that is all that we can say.”

Pavlich did not take questions, and did not respond to a reporter’s question about whether or not arrests had been made.

Two industry sources, speaking anonymously because the investigation is ongoing, said the players were driving back to Sydney on Monday evening to avoid media at Melbourne and Sydney airports.

The AFL held discussions with the Swans on Monday about whether the club would identify the players, and about whether they would be available to play in the coming weeks.

One photo being shared in chat groups, showing a woman with damaged teeth, does not relate to the incident. It was published by tabloid news sites in the UK earlier this year, months before the incident.

Police with clipboards and camera equipment were seen in the lobby of the hotel on Monday morning.

Pullman hotel staff would not comment.

Victoria Police confirmed they were “investigating a report of a sexual assault in East Melbourne on August 17”.

“The incident occurred at a hotel on Wellington Parade in the early hours of the morning,” it said in a statement.

“The exact circumstances are yet to be established and the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.”

Swans board member and club great Michael O’Loughlin was spotted at Sydney’s domestic airport on Monday but declined to shed further light on the matter when approached for comment.

“No, we’ll wait and see what the findings are, I don’t know,” O’Loughlin said.

Earlier on Monday the Swans released a statement.

“The Sydney Swans can confirm several players were involved in an alleged incident in Melbourne last night,” the club confirmed in a statement on Monday.

“The Swans have notified the AFL and relevant authorities and cannot provide further comment at this stage.”

The AFL confirmed the league had been notified by the Swans and said the matter rested with police.

In cases such as this, the AFL’s integrity unit defers to police.

The Swans are second on the ladder and well-placed to contend for the premiership with 17 wins, with one home-and-away round left before finals. They are due to play North Melbourne next Sunday in Sydney.

Unlike the NRL, the AFL does not have a no-fault stand down rule for players charged with serious offences.

However, Geelong’s Tanner Bruhn did not play for the Cats in 2025 after he was charged with rape and intentional sexual touching. The charges were dropped last November after a key witness admitted to lying, and Bruhn’s name was suppressed until the case was discontinued.

St Kilda sacked Andrew Lovett after he was charged with rape in 2010, terminating his contract over “a series of acts and omissions in breach of his employment contract”. He was later found not guilty of the rape charge.

In 2013, St Kilda player Stephen Milne took an indefinite leave of absence from the club after he was charged with three counts of rape. The charges were dropped when Milne instead pleaded guilty to a single charge of indecent assault.

The Sydney players have not been arrested or charged with any offence.

With Marc McGowan

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