Swans’ AFLW team ride record support after men’s players’ alleged hotel scandal

With a record crowd behind them, Sydney’s AFLW team have put the club’s AFL team’s hotel scandal aside to claim a 24-point win over Essendon.

The Swans’ women’s team have been caught in the crossfire of the sport’s most shattering off-field alleged scandal in years, which completely overshadowed a maiden AFLW-AFL double header at the SCG.

Five AFL players — Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon — were suspended for the rest of the season for “breaching club standards”.

Separately, a police investigation continues into an alleged sexual assault at East Melbourne’s Pullman Hotel in the early hours of Monday morning.

AFLW captain Lucy McEvoy — who urged Sydney fans to stick with the club amid talk fans could walk out ahead of the men’s clash with North Melbourne — fielded questions about the scandal ahead of a huge game.

But with a record crowd of 16,672 fans behind them, Colin O’Riordan’s Swans put that back of mind and broke away for a 9.12 (66) to 6.6 (42) victory that delivered a 2-0 record.

“We weren’t sure what we were going to be expecting this week but to see the support that we’ve received today is just unbelievable.

“Our members and fans are so tight and they know that we’re united as a club and we’re better than what we were at the start of the week.”

The announcement of the crowd — more than double the Swans’ previous record — was met with a huge roar.

“If people want to leave, that’s their individual choice,” O’Riordan said.

“We’ve done a lot of stuff with the men’s team, and our program fully supports them in every way we can and our club is fully united in everything we do.”

Essendon coach Natalie Wood revealed captain Bonnie Toogood and herself had reached out to their Swans counterparts during the week.

“Our message to the Swans was ‘whatever you need us to do, we’ll do that’,” Wood said.

“I thought the Sydney Swans did did a terrific job in pivoting the conversation to something really tangible, something really positive.”