{"id":884292,"date":"2026-09-08T09:38:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T09:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884292\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T09:38:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T09:38:38","slug":"sydney-swans-scandal-afl-boss-craig-drummond-declares-zero-tolerance-for-poor-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884292\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Swans scandal: AFL boss Craig Drummond declares zero tolerance for \u2018poor behaviour\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fiona<\/p>\n

Updated September 8, 2026 \u2014 6:40pm,first published 4:53pm<\/p>\n

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AFL boss Craig Drummond has declared a zero-tolerance approach to \u201cpoor behaviour\u201d in football, saying players either toe the line of the game\u2019s \u201chigh standard\u201d or find a job outside the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any, and should not have any, tolerance for poor behaviour,\u201d the AFL Commission chair told the SportNXT conference in Melbourne on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"EddieEddie McGuire in conversation with AFL chairman Craig Drummond at the SportNXT conference in Melbourne on Tuesday.SportNXT\/Supplied <\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever that behaviour is, we should not have any tolerance for it … It\u2019s not just about getting paid lots of money, although that certainly is an aspect to it, but they\u2019re public figures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have, and they should have, and their clubs should have, a set of values and expectations that these young men and women adhere to.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if you don\u2019t want to adhere to those values and expectations, then there\u2019s other opportunities outside sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut within sport, as within business, we have high standards, high expectations, high values, and we expect people to behave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drummond is a highly experienced executive who is chair of the Ian Potter Foundation, chair of Transurban, a non-executive director of Ramsay Health Care and was a former president of the Geelong Football Club. He doubled down on his position later in the seminar, hosted by Eddie McGuire, saying the AFL industry, as well as the players, needed to behave.<\/p>\n

\"DrummondDrummond became chair of the AFL Commission in March. Elke Meitzel<\/p>\n

\u201cJust back on the behaviour thing, we need to enforce our standards and our values, both at a club level, for managers with their players, for the Players\u2019 Association with their players, for clubs with their players, for the AFL,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s not just the players, it\u2019s also administrators. It\u2019s staff within the AFL system, within clubs, that we do need to maintain those sort of standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Drummond\u2019s comments come after the AFL has this year faced a variety of issues on and off field, including a night of wild partying by five Sydney Swans players at the Pullman hotel in East Melbourne in August, after their round 23 win against Essendon, where they and two other men engaged three women to entertain them as topless waitresses.<\/p>\n

Four of the Swans players \u2013 Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey and James Jordon \u2013 are persons of interest in a police investigation stemming from the night. Each of the three women have variously alleged they were sexually assaulted and touched inappropriately without consent.<\/p>\n

The three other men \u2013 Swans player Riley Bice, retired former teammate Taylor Adams<\/a> and a mystery man \u2013 are now being treated by police as witnesses<\/a> to the pre-dawn events.<\/p>\n

Separate from the police investigation, the five players were suspended by the Swans<\/a> for the remainder of this season for breaching the club\u2019s behavioural standards. The sanction did not relate to the women\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n

This masthead this week revealed that the five suspended Sydney Swans players, all of whom have denied criminal wrongdoing, will have to foot their own substantial legal fees<\/a> for their roles in the Pullman hotel episode.<\/p>\n

Drummond told the conference that upholding standards meant not taking supporters for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got an amazing game, an amazing fan base, amazing supporter and sponsor base, we\u2019ve got amazing broadcasters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Natalie Hutchins\u2019 disappearing act<\/p>\n

Natalie Hutchins may have announced late last year<\/a> that she would not recontest the seat of Sydenham come November\u2019s state election, but she is still a member of parliament<\/a>, at least for a few more weeks.<\/p>\n

So CBD was very surprised to see her listed as an adviser on the website of labour hire business Kazi Konnect, complete with her photo, name and a brief biography that described her as a former Victorian minister with \u201cexpertise in justice reform and social policy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"MemberMember for Sydenham Natalie Hutchins was listed as an adviser on the Kazi Konnect website before her details were removed on Tuesday.\u00a0 screengrab <\/p>\n

If this was a hint at her plans to move into the advising space after politics, then someone had jumped the gun.<\/p>\n

Hutchins was quick to respond when CBD got in touch on Tuesday, explaining she was not an adviser to Kazi Konnect, but rather was a supporter of the organisation that was recently established to support young vulnerable Victorians.<\/p>\n

\"LaborLabor MP Natalie Hutchins is stepping down at the upcoming November state election. Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no official role, and I certainly have not received any payment from them,\u201d Hutchins told CBD by text.<\/p>\n

She added that she would immediately request the website be changed as she had never given permission to be listed on the platform.<\/p>\n

Hutchins must have hit the phone quick smart, as CBD was impressed to see her image and bio disappear within minutes from the website. CBD reached out to the founder of Kazi Konnect, but did not hear back by deadline.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see what path Hutchins takes once her parliamentary career comes to an end. We\u2019ll be watching.<\/p>\n

Fascinator season takes a TV twist<\/p>\n

Well, this could be fun.<\/p>\n

The fast-approaching spring racing fascinator season could be a little more fashionable and a lot more competitive this year than in past iterations with casting under way on a proposed reality show about trackside fashion.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring racing fashion enthusiasts could be the next reality TV hit. Joe Armao<\/p>\n

The racetrack fashionista is a rare breed that comes out of hibernation en masse in spring and is noted for its extravagant plumage, colourful layers, devotion to high but impractical heels, and adoration of attention.<\/p>\n

CBD has seen a casting call for fashionable types taking part in frock competitions during the spring carnival. The search is on for \u201cfabulous outfits, BIG personalities and Victorian-based people who are serious about the sash\u201d.<\/p>\n

The elusive winner\u2019s sash is the holy grail of all Fashions on the Field participants. It is unclear how far down the development path the project is. One thing, however, is certain: the most popular people at race meetings in the coming months will be those casting their eye around for possible cast members.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\"FionaFiona Byrne<\/a> is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated September 8, 2026 \u2014 6:40pm,first published 4:53pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-884292","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\/884292","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=884292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}