Banned Sydney Swans players apologise to teammates as they return to club

Sydney vice-captain Isaac Heeney says he is looking forward to addressing his teammates after the Swans’ five suspended players made their return to the club’s headquarters.

Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice on Wednesday appeared at the Swans’ base at Moore Park for the first time since being banned for breaching club standards in August.

Warner and Bice first arrived together, followed by Heeney, Blakey and Jordon in the same car.

“I’m looking forward to addressing the playing group,” Heeney said.

Warner, flanked by a silent Bice, said he was “just here for my exit interview”.

Asked if he was going to say sorry or anything at all, Warner said: “I don’t know.”

The five have not been at the club since August after they were stood down for breaching club standards following a post-match party at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne.

Those suspensions are separate from a police investigation into sexual assault allegations, with Victoria Police flagging an update is not expected until late October.

It is understood police are treating Bice as a potential witness in the case while Heeney, Warner, Blakey and Jordon remain part of their investigation.

No one has been arrested or charged and the players have reportedly denied any criminal wrongdoing.

The Swans’ chief executive, Matthew Pavlich, spoke to reporters earlier on Wednesday and said the club would hear the group out, but wouldn’t be drawn on the specifics surrounding the five’s return.

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.”