The Sydney Swans have launched an independent investigation into the club’s culture as new details emerge in the drug probe involving Tom Papley.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Papley returned a positive preliminary roadside drug test for methylamphetamine during a police stop in NSW on Monday.
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The same stop also resulted in a court attendance notice over an allegedly suspended licence linked to an unpaid parking fine.
Now The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting Papley paid the parking fines over the weekend after his licence was suspended on October 29.
However, he did not call Service NSW to register the payment, so his licence was cancelled one day before police pulled him over.
The same report claims the AFL will not take any punitive action against Papley until the results of the B sample are confirmed by police.
It comes after Josh Addo-Carr returned a false positive for cocaine.
The Papley saga is the latest off-field issue the Swans face after Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon, Riley Bice, and the now departed Nick Blakey were stood down for breaching behavioural standards in August.
And Swans CEO Matthew Pavlich addressed media on Thursday as he confirmed independent advisers have been brought in to investigate the culture in the wake of another high-profile probe.
On Papley, Pavlich said: “We’re bitterly disappointed that we’re here talking about this today. We’re really disappointed in Tom himself. We voiced that pretty directly to him yesterday.
“We apologise unreservedly to our members, fans, and corporate partners. We’ve let them down again. We must be better. It’s a really disappointing time for the footy club.”
On a potential “culture problem” in the club, Pavlich then added: “We’ve been identifying that over the last eight weeks. We’ve started some deep work in that with our AFL men’s department.
“Independent advisers are helping us through that. They’re the questions we’re asking ourselves right now, and asking our players.”
Pavlich also spoke about the response sponsors have had to yet another saga engulfing the club.
“They’re angry, (but) they’re supportive,” he added. “They know that over a long period of time the club has upheld really high standards, and I can guarantee them and everyone we’ll continue to do that.
“We need to be better. This is not something that anyone is stopping short of knowing that we’ve got a long way to go.
“We’ve got some deep work to do to understand how we do get better for the future.”
Originally published as New details emerge in Tom Papley drug probe as Sydney Swans CEO issues statement