Sydney Swans prepare for banned five’s return to club
Joanna Guelas |
Sydney’s five suspended players are set to make their return and will address the Swans’ playing group “at some point”.
Swans coach Dean Cox confirmed to reporters Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice will return to headquarters for exit meetings from Wednesday.
Cox arrived at the club’s Moore Park base early on Wednesday morning, before Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich briefly spoke to media.
“Look, it’s a natural thing that the players will come into the club over the next period,” Pavlich said.
“Don’t know exactly when that’ll be, given that the season’s now finished and player exit meetings are occurring.
“And the players at some point will have a chat to the broader group and the club, but yeah, there’s no timeline.”
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.
No charges have been laid, and AAP is not suggesting any wrongdoing on the part of the five suspended players.
Pavlich 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.”
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AAP