Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Nick Blakey remain eligible for the Sydney Swans’ best and fairest award despite their involvement in the Pullman hotel scandal, but none of the five suspended players will attend Thursday night’s ceremony.
James Jordon and Riley Bice are also still in contention for the Bob Skilton Medal, after the Swans decided not to alter the eligibility or voting criteria for the club’s highest individual honour.
“Eligibility and voting criteria for the Bob Skilton Medal remains unchanged from previous years,” the club said in a statement.
“All players who represented the club in season 2026 will be eligible.”
Heeney is a strong contender to win the award for a third consecutive season, despite missing the final three matches of Sydney’s campaign. He was the Swans’ highest poller in this week’s Brownlow Medal count, finishing equal eighth with 26 votes.
Warner and Blakey are also expected to feature prominently, while Errol Gulden was the next-highest Swans player in the Brownlow voting with 17 votes from 13 games.
The five players returned to the club this week for the first time since receiving season-ending suspensions for breaching club standards after a night of partying at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel following Sydney’s round 23 win over Essendon.
The players have requested not to attend the awards night, a decision agreed to by the club.
“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 statement said.
The arrangement will allow the Swans to recognise their season without the ceremony being dominated by the controversy. Sydney’s premiership hopes ended in last week’s preliminary final, when Fremantle overturned the Swans’ lead after their upset qualifying-final victory against Brisbane.
The club’s sanctions are separate from a Victoria Police investigation into allegations of sexual assault at the Pullman. No charges have been laid, and Bice is no longer considered a person of interest by police.
