Speaking exclusively to the Herald Sun, the exotic dancer says there were nine men in the hotel room and she gave them a discount because they claimed they were carpenters and could not afford to pay the full rate.
Five Swans players – Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice – were handed season-ending bans by the club on Wednesday for breaching its standards after the Herald Sun revealed police were investigating sexual assault allegations at the hotel early on Monday.
Victoria Police’s Sexual Crimes Squad are focusing on Heeney’s interaction with the alleged victim, who the players had hired with another exotic dancer to perform lap dances.
The woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by one of the players said: “I don’t want money. All I care about is justice.
“I’m going to stand up for what is right. And I’m never going to let this happen to anyone else. Justice will be served.
“I care about women’s rights and what’s right, because this happens too often to women and they get away with it.”
The alleged victim said she could not go into detail about the incident, but added that nothing like that had happened to her previously and the ordeal had left her fearing for her safety.
The woman, who lives interstate, had come down to Melbourne on one of her regular visits early last week.
The woman, who cannot be identified, said she did not recognise any of the men as Swans players when she arrived, and did not know AFL.
There were “nine men” in the room, and she and another dancer were told they were tradies, she added.
“We did the show for less money than normal because we thought they were carpenters,” she said.
“They told us they were carpenters.”
The club has said there were only five players in the room, while it has been reported at least two other men, including a former AFL star, may have been there.
The alleged victim’s father has also spoken to the Herald Sun, saying she had told him she felt under “pressure” from the Sydney players after arriving at the hotel at about 4am on Monday.
“She was pretty distressed, pretty upset by it all,” her father said.
“She was very offended by their behaviour and what they put on her. She was just doing her job … and not what they wanted.”
When asked for context, the devastated father said: “Just pressure. Sexual favours. Pressure.”
After finalising her police statement on Tuesday, the woman has sought her own legal representation.
Reports of drugs in the Pullman hotel room were also concerning, her father said.
It has been alleged that both cocaine and ketamine were used in the room, with the Herald Sun confirming that police had been notified of claims of cocaine use and sources close to the incident saying players had snorted substances off the dancers’ bodies.
“I mean the drugs is the bad thing: cocaine. But that’s what they do when they get out of control those boys,” he said.
“Footballers should know better than to ring up an agency at 5 o’clock in the morning for two hours of God knows what because they’re so wasted,” he said.
“They’d have to be wasted … You’d have to be charged up on something to be doing that.”
Sources with knowledge of the incident have further revealed that police determined the players were unfit to be interviewed on Monday morning, after officers had been called to the hotel in East Melbourne, where evidence was collected.
It is understood Heeney arrived at a city police station at some point on Monday to answer questions but was told to leave.
The five Swans players who have been stood down have denied any drug use.
The players on Wednesday issued an apology over the breaches of the club’s conduct standards – specifically drinking, staying out late and bringing women into an AFL-paid hotel room.
But they have denied any criminal sexual offence occurred in the room.
The crisis for the Swans unfolded after the alleged victim and her co-worker are understood to have challenged the players after the alleged assault.
It is believed that at least one of the women was locked out of the room, and she and her co-worker, as well as a third woman, confronted club officials and hotel staff in the foyer soon after.
Detectives investigating the alleged sexual assault arrived in Sydney on Thursday. They were expected to interview players and witnesses.
Despite Swans chairman Andrew Pridham stating on Wednesday that he was still proud of the club’s culture, insiders have also claimed there were concerns about a cohort of players who were consuming illicit substances before the start of the 2026 AFL season.
The alleged victim has previously told friends of her fears about working as an adult entertainer, saying it could be “intimidating” and required resilience.