Sydney Swans fans have shown their support for the women’s team as the fallout from the club’s continued ahead of the historic double-header at the SCG.
The AFLW Swans easily beat Essendon 9.12.66 to 6.6.42 in a morale booting victory for the club and supporters.
The playing group, bench and staff stood in the centre of the SCG to belt out the team song after a stressful week.
The Swans men’s team will face their fans at home later on Sunday afternoon in their first game since the scandal broke last Monday.
But a large part of the crowd left the SCG straight after the AFLW game.
Some of the 16,672 fans walked out at the end of the Swans’ AFLW win against Essendon, with many fans seen leaving the venue, but a sizeable crowd remained.
And to show there was as much support for the Swans’ men, a rousing ovation from the crowd in the Brewongle Stand met Sydney players as they left the field for half-time.
Relief for AFLW Swans
After a tumultuous week, there was an overwhelming sense of relief for coach Colin O’Riordan after the match.
“I think I can talk personally, it’s more relief for me,” O’Riordan said.
“Again, I go back to pride and relief, they’re probably the two emotions that I have today. It’s incredible relief and pride in the group, but then relief personally that we got to win.
“To be involved in a game of that magnitude, with everything that went on, the way they conducted themselves during the week, the way they played footy, I think it epitomises everything that’s good about our footy club.”
The scandal
Players Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Chad Warner were stood down this week for breaching the club’s standards on drinking and staying out late after last Sunday’s win against Essendon in Melbourne.
The five issued a joint statement apologising for their behaviour last week.
Sydney is second on the ladder and has secured two home finals, but many angry fans are threatening to walk out after the AFLW game.
The club’s actions in banning the five players from playing for the rest of the year is separate to the police investigation.
Victoria Police have confirmed its sexual crimes squad is investigating “reports of a sexual assault” at the Pullman Hotel on Monday.
The club said on Saturday none of its players had been formally interviewed by police.
NewsWire does not suggest that any of the named players are being accused of sexual assault.
Remarks made by the club earlier in the week sparked backlash from advocates for centring the players, their careers and the upcoming AFL final, instead of the alleged victim in their language.
AFLW Swans’ ‘day of history’
The pleas from Swans officials, head coaches, the captains of the men’s and women’s teams, as well some high profile fans, were answered on Sunday with supporters coming out in force to support Sydney’s AFLW side.
The crowd of 16,672 smashed the Swans’ biggest AFLW crowd of 8264 set at their very first game, at North Sydney Oval, in 2022 and it was obvious by half-time that fans had not been deterred by the fallout of the scandal, that had embroiled the Swans players through no fault of their own.
The crowd had grown over 14,000 by three-quarter-time.
“Fans letting their feet do the talking,” Kelli Underwood remarked in the call on Fox Footy. “A day of history.”
Loud cheers rang out from the thousands in attendance whenever from the Swans’ women left or entered the ground, with multiple fans waving banners in support of women in the community.
The loudest cheer came when the record crowd was announced moments before the Swans’ women sealed the 24-point win.
“It’s amazing, we weren’t sure obviously what we were going to expecting this week to see the support that we received today is unbelievable,” Swans captain Lucy McEvoy told Fox Footy, moments after the final siren.
“Our members and fans are so tight and they know we’re united as a club and we’re better than what we were at the start of the week.”
By the early stages of the first quarter, the crowd had grown from the hundreds into the thousands with large pockets of supporters, scattered across the ground, who also found their voice in support of their girls chanting “Sydney, Sydney”, as it did at various times during the match.
A day before the game celebrities actor Luke Jacobz and Mark Beretta had urged fans not to let the actions of a handful overshadow the occasion, following pleas from club leaders AFL coach Dean Cox, captain Callum Mills, AFLW coach Colin O’Riordan and his captain Lucy McEvoy all presenting a ‘united’ front in their support of women and the club.
Essendon AFLW coach Natalie Wood praised her opponents.
“I thought Sydney Swans did a terrific job in pivoting the conversation to something really tangible and something really positive in terms of calling to the masses and telling people to come to support women, and then to support women’s football and the game,” Wood said.
‘Sydney, Sydney’
Fans decked proudly in their red and white steadily streamed through the famous gates more than breaking the Swans’ record AFLW crowd of 8264, despite the headlines that plagued the lead-up.
Sydney Swans fans lined up before gates opened, to get priority seats in the Ladies and Members stand, primarily, for the inaugural AFLW/AFL double header.
By the early stages of the first quarter, the crowd had grown significantly from the hundreds into the thousands with large pockets of supporters, scattered across the ground, who also found their voice in support of their girls chanting “Sydney, Sydney”.
The AFLW side entered the SCG to the loud cheers of a small but vocal crowd with fans creating a guard of honour for their heroes before they proceeded through the banner.
Before the game, Swans chairman Andrew Pridham addressed the club’s official AFLW function, apologising again and promising a review into the club’s culture.
“We do not excuse their behaviour. We do not ignore the impact it has had on so many people – and in particular women,” Pridham said.
“But we will seek to learn, to get better, to do better and show forgiveness.”
Swans’ initial response criticised
On Sunday, Labor MP Josh Burns became the latest politician to call out the Swans’ initial response
On Wednesday, chief executive Matthew Pavlich and chair Andrew Pridham fronted the media.
Pridham initially noted the impact on the football side was not considered by the board when it met on Tuesday night to decide the sanction.
However, he later emphasised the club’s disappointment and concern by pointing out its willingness “to effectively torpedo our season”.
Mr Burns said “the primary concern for everyone” should be the welfare of the women at the centre of the allegations.
He said the AFL was a “very powerful” institution which had the responsibility and the influence to “set culture”.
“The culture from the AFL feeds into community sport. It feeds into the national conversation,” Mr Burns said on Sunday.
“It feeds into the way and the attitudes of men and boys right around the country.
“So the focus of everyone from the very moment that these shocking allegations came forward … needs to be on ensuring that women and girls are safe, not the football finals, not minimising it with language, not minimising it with … the sorts of conversation and the sorts of statements we’ve seen, but actually making it clear that the culture and the views of people at the top are ones of zero tolerance.”
Mr Burns pointed to a “correction” made by the Swans in its language around the alleged sexual assault but said he would not “congratulate” the club for “realising the focus … should have been on the alleged victims, not footy finals or footy games”.
“The work that we all need to do is ensure that those who are in positions of leadership and power set the culture and the tone to make sure that we are all focusing on what’s appropriate,” he said.
On Friday, Swans team coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills issued an apology, saying their thoughts remained “with everyone affected, particularly the women involved”.
“All women deserve to feel safe and respected,” they said.
More to come
Originally published as Dozens of fans left the SCG after breaking the AFLW Swan’s crowd record before the men’s game
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