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September 4, 2026 — 7:00pm
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The Sydney Swans have reached the finals 24 times in the past 30 seasons. It is a remarkable record, but football in September is never taken for granted.
Normally, the week leading into the finals is a time for the Swans to embrace the increased demands of the Sydney media. Players who might normally speak in stock-standard cliches open up about their lives. This year, for obvious reasons, that has all changed, and the club has been forced to limit access to the squad.
Five players, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice and James Jordon, are serving club-imposed suspensions for breaching the Swans’ behavioural standards during a night out in Melbourne last month. The five have denied any criminal wrongdoing, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, and a separate police investigation into an alleged sexual assault is ongoing.
The suspensions have resulted in a waiting press pack being regularly parked outside the club’s headquarters. The main story remains a long way from what happens on the field as the Swans aim to upset the odds against back-to-back premiers Brisbane at the SCG on Saturday.
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But in the same week two years ago, the Swans were preparing for a qualifying final against the Giants under entirely different circumstances. Ahead of facing their cross-town rivals, the Swans began their 2024 finals campaign with an open training session. Hundreds of fans swarmed the players for signatures at its completion.
Bice hadn’t yet joined the Swans, but Blakey, Heeney and Warner were the star attractions for an eager public.
Heeney was followed by fans as he left Tramway Oval for the club’s headquarters. He stopped to sign each autograph and posed for innumerable selfies. Nobody was turned away.
Three hours later, Heeney, Warner and Blakey were part of an extended open media session with fellow star Errol Gulden. The mood was relaxed, and the players were engaged.
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The demand was so significant from the media that each player sat in the middle of a large semicircle of journalists and conducted an interview before the press moved on to a teammate. The major focus that day was the Swans’ relatively poor record against the Giants in finals.
This week, there was no open media session with the Swans’ remaining key players, such as Gulden and Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow.
The Swans still have an opportunity to win a first premiership since 2012, but the fallout from the events at the Pullman Hotel last month lingers.
On Thursday, coach Dean Cox addressed the media on the boundary at the SCG. Cox is entering his first finals campaign after leading his team to second at the end of the home-and-away season. But the on-field exploits hardly rated a mention, as he spent the majority of his 14-minute media conference addressing the fallout from the events in Melbourne.
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On Friday, the Swans’ decision to put up midfielder James Rowbottom for the final media engagement before taking on Brisbane was noted. Rowbottom is a composed speaker and did his best to focus on football, including providing reasons as to why the Swans could shock the Lions.
Like his coach, Rowbottom would have loved to talk only about the game but knew that he had to address questions about his five suspended teammates.
The commerce student has become a senior leader at the football club and, while acknowledging that he has provided support to housemate Blakey, also spoke of how the events of the past month have brought the AFL and AFLW programs closer together.
Against the Giants two years ago, there was a feeling that the Swans could go on to win the premiership. They made the grand final, ironically against Brisbane, but lost by 60 points.
In stark contrast, this time most people are writing off the Swans. Whatever happens now on the field, the events of August 16 at the Pullman Hotel have ensured that it will remain the secondary story.
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Jonathan Drennan is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.AdvertisementAdvertisement