{"id":76981,"date":"2026-08-21T02:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T02:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76981\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T02:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T02:36:12","slug":"sydney-swans-leaders-dean-cox-and-callum-mills-admit-club-is-in-the-dark-over-aspects-of-alleged-scandal-still-trying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76981\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Swans leaders Dean Cox and Callum Mills admit club is in the dark over aspects of alleged scandal: \u2018Still trying\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney Swans<\/a> coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills admit they are still in the dark about aspects of the alleged scandal as they concede the team\u2019s culture \u201chas taken a massive hit\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a formal press conference for the first time since Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon were suspended for breaching team standards, the leaders said they had had \u201cextremely hard\u201d conversations with the five players.<\/p>\n

Cox conceded he had not thought about football once this week but the pair both hoped the AFL team would be able to \u201cbind together to be better for this\u201d.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have women in our lives we deeply love. I would like to express that respect for women is of the highest priority for both myself personally and our football club,\u201d Cox began.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some fantastic women working in our football club, both in the AFLW program and on staff, and our thoughts are with them and I apologise to them, along with the women in the community, for the actions of the players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely disappointed at the actions of the players and the sanctions imposed by the board show that how serious we take these matters to those women involved. I hope everyone is getting the support they need.<\/p>\n

\u201cA culture isn\u2019t perfect. One thing that we do know is our culture has taken a hit. The thing you need to understand about a culture is how you respond and the actions you take following being hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to work through, and as hard as we possibly can, to get the trust back from the community, to get to the culture where we\u2019re desired to be, where we once have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sydney have stressed their club-imposed sanctions, ruling the five players out for the rest of the season including finals, are independent of the police investigation.<\/p>\n

\"SydneySydney Swans coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills front a press conference on Friday. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

And as both Cox and Mills repeatedly batted away questions because of the investigation, the coach said the Swans are still trying to get to the bottom of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t in the room,\u201d Cox confirmed while adding he was \u201cunaware\u201d who else was beyond the five players.<\/p>\n

Asked if other staff members were, he said: \u201cI cannot comment on what happened in the room, it is a police investigation. So we\u2019re still trying to find out information as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

7NEWS Melbourne\u2019s Mitch Cleary previously reported Victorian sex crime detectives who have travelled to Sydney for further inquiries are working off claims there were up to nine different men in the hotel room over the course of the night.<\/p>\n

The Swans insist only five of them were currently listed AFL players, and issued a further statement on the issue after the press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sydney Swans can confirm that all investigations carried out by the club have consistently indicated that the only representatives of the club in the room central to the police investigation were the five players who have been stood down,\u201d the club said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have every reason to consider that reports to the contrary are simply false. We are respecting the process with the relevant authorities and will refrain from commenting on police matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would also like to take this opportunity to condemn some of the misinformation being reported and are now considering our legal position on those matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heeney, Warner, Blakey, Bice and Jordon are helping police with their inquiries.<\/p>\n

No charges have been laid and 7NEWS is not suggesting any wrongdoing, only that there are allegations of sexual misconduct being investigated by police.<\/p>\n

Cox said he had spoken with the playing group after the game against Essendon last Sunday \u201cabout what\u2019s required to make the right decisions\u201d before their Monday morning flight home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese obviously aren\u2019t the right decisions and that\u2019s why we\u2019ve acted as a football club and come down with these sanctions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mills said the five players \u201chad let us down\u201d but shied away from addressing his relationship, citing the police investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy position is that I fully support the sanctions that have been handed down by the club,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cox added he had spoken to the five players and would continue to support them \u201cbut we are fully supportive of the decision the board made \u2014 that is unanimous\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to them about their welfare and that\u2019s what I\u2019ll always do,\u201d Cox said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t ask them any questions or speak to them about what happened that night because it is a police investigation. But as you can imagine everyone at the football club, everyone in general, has had different emotions \u2014 and they\u2019ve gone through all of them.<\/p>\n

Asked how the five players are, he said: \u201cLike people would expect, and that\u2019s everyone. The time that\u2019s needed to work through those emotions and how they change is happening in those four walls as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mills later said he had had \u201cextremely hard\u201d conversations with the five players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what this has caused is for us to put the mirror up to all men within society and all men within the club, and that we need to do better,\u201d he said when asked about AFL education programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur club has taken a massive hit with its culture, and we deem that those behaviours that were displayed on the weekend were far from what we believe is the standard that we need them to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mills had addressed the AFLW players privately, saying he acknowledged their pain and was deeply apologetic \u201cfor the actions of a few within our group\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said he was \u201cdeeply shocked and disappointed\u201d as he issued a public apology to the club\u2019s AFLW players, their female staff \u201cand the women in our lives \u2014 our partners, mothers, sisters and all women within the community\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take these allegations extremely seriously and we hope the women involved are getting all the support they deserve,\u201d he said in his prepared comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really disappointed of the actions of these five players and as a playing group, we fully support the club\u2019s decision on the sanctions handed down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take full responsibility and we are deeply sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach said he will now attempt to turn his attentions to North Melbourne and the Swans\u2019 AFLW-AFLW double-header at the SCG.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Parent fury as disgraced Heeney poses with child during explosive scenes<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Swans crisis deepens as women involved say \u2018we fear for our lives\u2019<\/p>\n

3 min read<\/p>\n

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