The five Sydney players suspended for the remainder of the AFL season amid an ongoing police investigation into a report of an alleged sexual assault have released a joint statement.
The Swans announced on Wednesday morning that Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordan, Riley Bice and Nick Blakey would not be considered for selection at all for the rest of the year, including the upcoming finals series, for breaching club standards at a Melbourne hotel in the early hours of Monday morning.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Swans stand down five stars for standards breach
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Speaking to reporters later on Wednesday, Swans CEO Matthew Pavlich and president Andrew Pridham stressed the ban was a club-imposed one, irrespective of the Victoria Police investigation.
Now, the five players in question have spoken for the first time since the incident, expressing their remorse and regret over their actions.
“We are deeply sorry to everyone involved. We know that our behaviour has fallen well short of the standards expected of us and the values of our club,” their joint statement reads.
“We know we have let down our partners and families, members, supporters, teammates, the AFLW team, corporate partners and everyone at the club and the wider community.
“We accept the club sanction and apologise for the impact this has had on those involved.
“Our focus will now be on rebuilding trust with the club and the community.”
Sydney will finish second on the AFL ladder regardless of this weekend’s results and will host a qualifying final at the SCG in just over a fortnight’s time.
None of the five players will feature in that or any other final, nor will Heeney or Warner participate in any activities ambassadorial activities for Telstra that they otherwise would have at least while the police investigation is ongoing.
Pridham faced the media first on Wednesday afternoon, saying they are only making statements about the players breaching the standards of the club.
He immediately apologised to everyone affected by the scandal, and said it was a “sad day” for the Swans.
“I know that there’s great interest in the broader aspects of this, of this situation. Please appreciate that. We’re in a position where it is subject to a Victorian police inquiry, and therefore our statements will purely relate to our inquiries relative to the players,” he said.
“At the outset, I want to offer an apology, sincere apology to the community, to our many, many fans. Our corporate partners who’ve been amazingly supportive of us, understanding that we are attempting to, to deal with this matter as quickly as we can, as honestly as we can, given the constraints of the police inquiry, and to very much be transparent in our dealings with the media.
“Our thoughts go out to everybody who’s been impacted by these events, and we know it’s impacted many, many people ranging from the partners of of our staff, our players, our women’s program and men’s program.
“There’s deep disappointment within the club at what is what has occurred. And we know that many people are hurting and we are providing support to our players, to their partners and to as many people we can, to our fans and members.”
Pavlich then said the club is extremely disappointed and embarrassed by the actions of the players.
“We’re deeply embarrassed and ashamed that our poor choices, or the poor choices of five of our players and the impact that it’s had on the women involved and also the club, our supporters and so many other people that Andrew talked about,” he said.
“But as I said, it’s important to understand that this sanction is only as it relates to the players behaviours and the standards that we accept, and we’re expecting of them post game on Sunday night and into Monday morning.
“Those standards are of the highest order, and we hold all players and staff accountable to to those really high standards and personal conduct.”
