Five suspended Sydney Swans players have returned to the club’s headquarters in Moore Park for end-of-season exit meetings, their first visit since being sanctioned over a late-night incident in Melbourne.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon arrived at the Royal Hall of Industries on Wednesday afternoon, drawing attention from onlookers and media gathered in the busy Entertainment Quarter.
The group, dubbed the “Pullman Five”, entered the venue in two cars shortly after 5pm. Warner and Bice travelled together, while Heeney, Blakey and Jordon arrived in the second vehicle.
Warner, the only one of the five to have been photographed since the incident at Melbourne’s Pullman Hotel on August 17, told reporters: “I’m just here for my exit interview.”
Heeney said he was “looking forward to addressing the playing group” as the players made their way inside. He also checked on a cameraman who fell near a bollard.
Suspended Sydney Swans players return for club meetings
The Swans suspended all five players for the remainder of the AFL season, ruling them out of the club’s final home-and-away match against North Melbourne and its finals campaign.
The decision meant they missed Sydney’s qualifying-final victory over the Brisbane Lions and last Friday’s preliminary-final defeat by Fremantle.
The club-imposed suspensions 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.
Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich said the meetings were a normal part of the club’s end-of-season process, despite the circumstances surrounding the players’ return.
“It’s a natural thing the players will come in,” Pavlich said. “We have our exit meetings and the players will come in. The players at some point will have a chat to the broader group and the club.”
He added: “I want them to be themselves and I want them to come and do what they normally do – their player exit meetings.”
AFL chief operating officer Tom Harley said the league was not involved in determining how Sydney handled the five players while the police investigation continued.
“It’s still clearly a legal matter, and whilst it’s in the hands of the police, it remains there,” Harley said. “How that plays out up in Sydney will play out, and from an AFL point of view, we’re not involved in that.”
Harley said the Swans would decide when the players returned to pre-season training, provided they remained at the club after the trade period.
