Sydney Swans could let go the five players that have been stood down by the club amid interest from AFL rivals.
The club made the decision to suspend the players following a breach of behavioural standards.
Code Sports reports Swans are aware rival clubs will make plays for Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice.
“There is a growing internal belief the Swans will need to move on one or more of those players to make profound change,” Jon Ralph and Lauren Wood’s report states.
The club is awaiting the conclusion of a Victoria Police investigation after an allegation of sexual assault was made.
All five Swans have strenuously denied any criminal wrongdoing, and no charges have been laid over the alleged assault.
News.com.au is not suggesting any of the men in the room engaged in the conduct alleged, only that it has been alleged.
The five players stood down until the end of the season will likely attract interest from other AFL clubs.
“Sydney knows its rivals will come for its banned players at absolute warp speed,” Ralph said on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle.
“It’s faced with an impossible decision. It’s my understanding they’re coming to the realisation they might have to move on some of those players to make profound cultural change.
“And to signify how much they’re prepared to change, it’ll almost take a step back from a performance point of view.
“West Coast almost did that – they pulled back on those on-field performances, so much of the cultural stuff, and this might be a similar move.”
Meanwhile coach Dean Cox has revealed he is in contact with the five players that have been stood down.
However he stressed they have not discussed the ongoing investigation.
“One thing I’ll always do is support my players,” Cox said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I’m staying in dialogue with those five players whilst they’re away from the football club. I speak about their welfare, how they’re going and if we can support in any way.
“I haven’t spoken to them at all about the police investigation. Also I think we need to understand there’s an investigation in process. We need to get all the facts on that, before we make any assumptions.
“(My chats are) purely about support, and I’ll continue to do that.”
Swans chairman Andrew Pridham revealed the club would look into why the standards they set were breached.
“No culture is perfect. We have never said it is,” he said.
“Clearly we need to look into what went wrong. The standards we set were not the problem. “It is that they were breached. We need to understand why this happened. We will do this thoroughly.”
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