{"id":883064,"date":"2026-09-07T08:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T08:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/883064\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T08:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T08:54:21","slug":"sydney-swans-investigation-suspended-players-to-foot-their-own-legal-bills-under-afl-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/883064\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Swans investigation: Suspended players to foot their own legal bills under AFL rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jake<\/p>\n

September 7, 2026 \u2014 6:42pm<\/p>\n

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The five suspended Sydney Swans players will have to foot their own substantial legal fees for their role in the Pullman Hotel episode that is under police investigation.<\/p>\n

Under AFL rules, the five players would have to pay their individual legal costs \u2013 not only for legal representation during the ongoing sexual assault investigation \u2013 but also for any civil lawsuits threatened by the women<\/a> who were in the company of the five players in the early hours of August 17 in a hotel room.<\/p>\n

\"SydneySydney Swans players (from left) Chad Warner, James Jordon, Isaac Heeney and Nick Blakey.The Age<\/p>\n

Two AFL sources, speaking anonymously because of the police investigation, have confirmed that the rules governing the league\u2019s salary cap do not allow the club, or people closely associated with the club, to foot the bill for any of the five players \u2013 Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice. The five are under club suspension for breaching the Swans\u2019 behavioural standards for the remainder of this season, with police having cleared Bice of any criminal wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

This masthead previously reported all five denied criminal wrongdoing, and no charges have been laid.<\/p>\n

The AFL Players\u2019 Association has provided some support for the players, but cannot financially contribute to their legal costs.<\/p>\n

The bills facing four of the players \u2013 police are treating Bice only as a witness \u2013 would escalate if they reach settlements with the women, who have engaged lawyers and indicated they would potentially seek compensation.<\/p>\n

\"NickNick Blakey has told associates he wants to be traded at season\u2019s end.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Settlements, too, cannot be covered by the club under the AFL\u2019s rules for the salary cap.<\/p>\n

Each of the five players has engaged his own lawyer to handle the investigation.<\/p>\n

The strict AFL rules on paying for players\u2019 legal costs also prohibit a wealthy club benefactor \u2013 if they have a clear connection to the club \u2013 footing the legal bills.<\/p>\n

Separately, the Swans are undecided on whether the suspended players will be eligible for votes and awards in the club best and fairest.<\/p>\n

The AFL has banned them from attending the Brownlow count during grand final week<\/a> but they are still eligible to win it.<\/p>\n

The AFL may not reach a position on whether the five players can be traded during the October trade period.<\/p>\n

In effect this might leave that decision, and the associated risks, with the clubs who entertain trading for any of them. The Swans have not guaranteed their positions with the club next year, as they wait for the police investigation to take its course.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Dane<\/a><\/p>\n

The AFL declined to comment on its position on any potential trades.<\/p>\n

Blakey, as reported in this masthead<\/a>, has told associates that he could entertain a move to another club as a result of dissatisfaction with how he has been handled in the scandal.<\/p>\n

The police have indicated a timeline for the investigation suggesting that it is not likely to be completed before the trade period, saying last week they did not expect to provide another update for eight weeks. This creates a challenge for any parties considering a trade for any of the four (with Bice now excluded).<\/p>\n

The five players were not present at their team\u2019s stunning 53-point upset of the Brisbane Lions<\/a> on Saturday, when it also emerged that Victoria Police had seized an audio recording<\/a> from a Melbourne home detailing events at the centre of the alleged sexual assaults investigation.<\/p>\n

As reported in this masthead, a source close to the investigation, but not authorised to comment publicly, said the recording was made in the days following the alleged incident in a room at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel in the early hours of Monday, August 17.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JakeJake Niall<\/a> is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 7, 2026 \u2014 6:42pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-883064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}