Heeney, Warner, Blakey, Jordon and Bice return to Moore Park and apologise to Sydney Swans teammates
On Wednesday, 23 September 2026, Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice returned to the Sydney Swans' Moore Park headquarters to meet teammates and staff after being banned in August for breaching club standards. The five players individually spoke to and apologised to staff and the club’s AFL and AFLW playing lists.
The group ended a weeks-long exile from the club, having not been at the Swans since August after being stood down following a post-match party at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne. Swans vice-captain Isaac Heeney was among the five who attended Moore Park on Wednesday.
Chad Warner and Riley Bice arrived together at the club’s HQ, followed by Heeney, Nick Blakey and James Jordon in the same car. Only Heeney and Warner spoke to media on arrival; Warner, flanked by a silent Bice, said he was “just here for my exit interview”. When asked if he was going to say sorry or anything at all, Warner said: “I don’t know.” Heeney did not answer when he was asked if he had a message to fans.
Each player spoke separately and apologised to staff and to both the AFL and AFLW playing lists, according to the club’s account of the meetings. Heeney was the only player after the club meeting to address media, saying: “It was really nice to address the whole club,” he said on Wednesday evening. “I was thankful they could give us their time and understanding, so yeah, it was really good.”
Those suspensions followed the post-match party at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne and are separate from an ongoing police inquiry. It is understood that Victoria police are treating Riley Bice as a potential witness while Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey and James Jordon remain part of their investigation; no one has been arrested or charged and the players have reportedly denied any criminal wrongdoing.
Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich spoke to reporters earlier on Wednesday and said the club would hear the group out but would not be drawn on the specifics of the return. When asked what he would want the five to say in their address, Pavlich said: “I want them to be themselves. “I want them to come in and do what we’d normally do at the end of a season, which is, yeah, player exit meetings. “If they’ve got something to say to their player group, if they’ve got something to say to the club, then we’ll hear them out then.”
Victoria police have flagged an update is not expected until late October, and the Swans conducted the players’ exit meetings at Moore Park on Wednesday.