The Sydney Swans have suspended five players for the remainder of the 2026 Australian Football League season after police launched a sex crimes investigation into a hotel party in Melbourne.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon were stood down by the club following allegations of sexual assault and drug use involving hired waitresses early Monday morning.
The players had been out drinking to celebrate a 36-point victory over Essendon on Sunday, which secured the Swans second place in the league and a home qualifying final in Sydney. They allegedly invited women, thought to be paid lap dancers and topless waitresses, back to their rooms at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne.
Police were called shortly after 7am local time on Monday, August 17, when the women demanded hotel staff let them into a room to retrieve their clothes and personal items. One woman had reportedly been locked out of the room without her clothes.
The women then reportedly confronted the Swans coach in the hotel lobby, claiming one of them had been mistreated, before one woman ran to a bathroom crying.
Detectives from Victoria Police's sex crimes squad were scheduled to travel to Sydney to interview the players after a formal complaint was made on Tuesday. No charges have been laid.
Club denies staff involvement
The Sydney Swans released a statement condemning "misinformation" surrounding the incident and denying rumors that club staff were present in the hotel room. The club said it is considering legal action.
"The Sydney Swans can confirm that all investigations carried out by the club have consistently indicated that the only representatives of the club in the room central to the police investigation were the five players who have been stood down," the statement read.
"We have every reason to consider that reports to the contrary are simply false. We are respecting the process with the relevant authorities and will refrain from commenting on police matters."
The five players issued a joint apology on Wednesday evening. Their suspensions for breaching club standards are separate from the police investigation.
Detectives are reportedly focusing on the actions of Heeney, who spoke voluntarily with police on Monday. He and his teammates then drove nine hours back to Sydney in a rental car to avoid being photographed at the airport.
Heeney became engaged to influencer Steffie Waters in October during a trip to French Polynesia. The couple went viral in December for an Instagram post in matching Christmas jumpers, joking he would "stuff" her "stocking." Waters was pictured this week in tears on the phone and without her engagement ring.
Warner, meanwhile, has a long-term girlfriend, Alice Hughes, and Bice was recruited to the team in 2024.
Stripper boss disputes claims
The incident took place at the upscale five-star Pullman East Melbourne hotel on Wellington Parade, overlooking Fitzroy Gardens and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The women allegedly involved claimed there were nine people in the room. They said they gave the men a discount on their usual fee because they were told the group worked as carpenters, despite the players being on AFL contracts worth more than a million dollars.
One of the three lap dancers who gave official statements to police said she feared for her life after her identity was leaked online and she received a barrage of threats from angry fans.
"There is one particular person who has messaged me and commented on one of my photos and even contacted my dad," the dancer said. "My identity should not be out there. I am in a lot of danger. Some AFL fans are very angry about this and I don't know what they may do."
The woman, who recently moved to Melbourne to earn extra money as a topless waitress, said she remains committed to assisting the investigation.
She also accused Jasmine, the owner of Party Girls Melbourne, which arranged the booking, of hanging up on her when she called in distress at 8am on Monday.
Jasmine told reporters she did everything "by the books." She claimed there were "a lot of drugs involved" and said she advised the dancer to give her contact details to police.
"Unless she recorded that call and it says something different that I don't remember, that's what happened," Jasmine said.
The dancer claimed Jasmine sent her a WhatsApp message days later accusing her of taking ketamine. She said Jasmine had no idea what happened in the hotel room because she was not there, adding: "Everything she is saying is false."
Fake messages spread online
Amid the investigation, unauthenticated WhatsApp messages have circulated online making extraordinary claims about the party, including allegations that cocaine and ketamine were used in the players' room.
The messages falsely claimed the players were "all in custody." One text alleged a woman was injured and included a photograph that has since been debunked as a fake taken months ago.
Other unverified screenshots claimed a woman taunted a player with insects, causing an argument that resulted in damage to the hotel, and that a player took bets on the chaos. There is no evidence to support these claims. A separate message claimed a woman leaving the lobby said she had "recorded" events in the room.
Premiership hopes damaged
The Australian Football League is the top professional sports league for Australian rules football and the nation's most popular sport, attracting more than eight million fans a year. Two teams of 18 clash on a large oval field, running with an oval-shaped ball that they must bounce or touch to the ground every 15 meters. Players pass by punching or kicking, and score six points for a goal by kicking the ball through the middle two tall posts at each end, or one point for a behind.
The Swans, who have won five premierships and last won in 2012, sit second in the standings. Each team plays 23 games in a regular season, with the top ten advancing to a five-week playoff series. The Swans' final regular-season game is this weekend against North Melbourne.
Losing five top players ahead of the playoffs is a major blow to their premiership hopes. Heeney, Blakey and Warner had been expected to feature in the All-Australian team for the season, as they did in 2024, but its planned release has been postponed until the AFL Awards in Melbourne on Tuesday night.
The Swans' game on Sunday is a double-header with Sydney's AFLW women's team, who are playing at the venue for the first time since 2022.
Swans CEO Matthew Pavlich said the women's team was "deeply disappointed" by the scandal.
"Their welfare is of utmost importance to us and we're supporting them as best we can," Pavlich said. "We've met with them a number of times. We're continuing to work closely with them because they've got a game to prepare for on Sunday."
"All I've seen so far, barring this significant incident, is that we are one club and we treat and respect women incredibly well. We have a huge female supporter base, we've got a huge academy that has boys and girls playing in it, and all women deserve to be treated respectfully and feel safe."
The season culminates in the AFL Grand Final, scheduled for September 26 at the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground. The stadium, located 380 yards from the Pullman hotel, is also set to host the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers in the league's first regular-season game in Australia. The Week 1 fixture kicks off on September 11 at 10:35am local time, with the Jonas Brothers headlining the halftime show.
