The Sydney Swans have stood down five players, including star forward Isaac Heeney, for the remainder of the 2026 Australian Football League season after they breached team standards by staying out late, drinking and calling three strippers to their hotel room following a win over Essendon last Sunday.
Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice were also sidelined alongside Heeney. The club said the decision was separate from allegations of sexual assault stemming from the same night, which the Swans say are a matter for police to determine.
The Swans are one of the most successful clubs in the AFL, Australia's top professional football competition, and Heeney has been a key figure in the team's forward line in recent seasons.
Allegations of sexual assault
The scandal began after reports that women had been brought back to the team's hotel, the Pullman East Melbourne, in the early hours of last Monday following the Swans' win over Essendon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Three women who had been hired for the private gathering have since made allegations of sexual misconduct, which have been reported to police and are expected to form part of an investigation into potential criminal conduct.
One woman has alleged she was the victim of multiple sexual assaults, according to her lawyers. She is represented by Slater & Gordon lawyer Jackson Pannam, whose firm confirmed the allegations had been reported to Victoria Police.
The other two women, who had been engaged as topless waitresses for the players and their friends, have separately alleged they were subjected to sexual conduct beyond what they had agreed to, involving multiple men. They are represented by Carbone Lawyers. Sources close to the women, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said the women had told police that sexual conduct occurred beyond what they had consented to while working at the event.
Police have also been alerted to the possible existence of a recording relating to what happened inside the hotel. Victoria Police has described its investigation as relating to a report of a sexual assault and declined to say whether the inquiry had been broadened to include the other two women's allegations.
No charges laid
None of the men involved have been accused of wrongdoing by police, and the allegations remain untested. Heeney has reportedly found himself at the centre of the investigation, although the Swans have pushed back against reports that players had already been interviewed by police, saying no player had been interviewed at that stage. Heeney has not been charged with any crime and has yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
The five players have not returned to the club since being stood down. For Heeney, the fallout has extended beyond football, with endorsement deals and ambassadorial roles dropped.
Fiancee flees to Noosa
Heeney's fiancee, Steffie Waters, has found herself caught up in the scandal despite having no part in it. She left Sydney for Noosa to stay with her sister and brother-in-law as the controversy engulfed her partner.
On Friday, the Daily Mail published exclusive photographs appearing to show Waters without her engagement ring, although reports suggest she has not called off the engagement.
A columnist's own account
Daily Mail columnist Lucy Manly wrote that the scandal did not surprise her, describing her own past encounters with a Sydney Swans figure who is not among the players stood down over the hotel incident. Manly said she still had late-night text messages the man had sent her despite having a fiancee at the time.
Manly wrote that she first met the man in June 2024 while having drinks with friends at The Royal, a pub in Bondi. After they chatted, he asked to join her group after his friend had "disappeared," and she agreed.
According to Manly, he later asked whether they should "get a bag" before inviting her back to his home, saying the woman he lived with did not actually live with him. Manly said she declined, telling him she had a boyfriend, and he apologised and left. She said she later learned the woman he had described as his girlfriend was in fact his fiancee.
Manly wrote that she crossed paths with the same man again in August 2025 at The Oak in Double Bay, where he was with a group of Swans figures while she was on a date. After the group left, she said he repeatedly texted and called her asking whether she was still out, messages she said she never answered.
Manly said she could only imagine what Waters was going through and hoped she had people around her to lean on.
