The “Pullman Five” will not be attending the Sydney Swans’ best and fairest awards night next week.
After weeks of speculation about how the suspended players would be received at the end of season gala event, the club has announced the five players — Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice — will not be in attendance.
According to the club, the players made the call themselves not to attend.
It creates an awkward situation for the club with Heeney widely tipped to win the Bob Skilton Medal as the club’s best player for the 2026 season.
The event is scheduled to take place on October 1 at the Sydney Town Hall.
According to reports earlier this week, Swans officials and players were still torn over whether the five players would be welcome to attend. Now the club says the players made the decision for them before any offer could be made.
In another twist to the saga, the club announced on Friday the five players are eligible to win the award.
“Eligibility and voting criteria for the Bob Skilton Medal remains unchanged from previous years,” the club said in a statement.
“All players who represented the Club in season 2026 will be eligible. However, we can confirm Nick Blakey, Riley Bice, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Chad Warner have requested not to attend the awards night, and this has been agreed to by the Club.”
It comes after the five players on Thursday returned to Swans headquarters in Moore Park for the first time since August to face teammates for the first time since the club announced its decision to stand the players down for the remainder of the season.
The players have been questioned by police over allegations adult entertainers were touched inappropriately inside a Pullman Hotel room following an Essendon match, but no charges have been laid to date.
Bice has subsequently been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by Victorian Police.
Warner told reporters he was at the club for his exit interview when he arrived with Riley Bice.
Heeney said he was looking forward to addressing the player group.
“I’m really thankful they could give us their time and understanding,” Heeney told media when he left.
“It was really good.”
Nine News reported the players apologised to the club group, which included players from the AFL, AFLW and club officials.
Sydney Swans chief executive officer Matthew Pavlich told media earlier on Wednesday that he wanted the players to come in for end of season exit interviews.
“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,” he said.
None of the five players were invited to attend Monday night’s Brownlow Medal count, despite Heeney polling 26 votes.
Veteran footy journalist Caroline Wilson earlier this week suggested there’s still “a lot of angry footballers” at the club in the fallout from the scandal.
It was reported earlier this week Blakey is considering submitting a trade request despite being in the middle of a long-term contract with the club.
According to reports, Blakey’s decision was going to be heavily motivated by how his teammates received him on Thursday.
According to a report earlier this week, Swans officials expect all five players will return to the club when pre-season training begins in November.
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