Spotlight swings back to Sydney’s banned five after preliminary final heartache: ‘Hopefully feeling sick’

As the curtain closes on a barely believable season for the Sydney Swans , the spotlight has now swung back to the five players who are serving a club imposed suspension amid a police investigation .

No charges have been laid and 7NEWS.com.au is not suggesting any wrongdoing, however the allegations are clearly serious.

The known facts are that the players were drinking into the early hours of the morning, and there were exotic dancers in their hotel room.

One thing is certain, the players fell well short of acceptable behaviour from professional athletes, and AFL expert Kane Cornes says they should be feeling sick.

The Swans players — who were left to represent the club — physically and emotionally gave their all for 11 quarters since that Round 23 game.

But in the final term of the preliminary final against Fremantle, they just ran out of gas after building a game-high 28-point lead.

“If the (Pullman five) play, they’re probably in the box seat to win a premiership, not only to win (the prelim),” Cornes said.

“It was a Heeney moment away. It was a Warner moment away. It was a Blakey run and leadership moment away. It was a Jordon defensive role away, Bice’s ball use across half back.

“This is hard to win. You need everything going your way. There are one percenters, and when you’re not fully buying into being an AFL professional, that comes back to get you.

“They’ll live with this moment forevermore, and it will be a significant regret for them.

“And if I was their teammate, I’d be furious about what has happened over the last month or so.”

Cornes applauded the players who represented the club in the aftermath of the scandal, and coach Dean Cox.

“The commitment, the discipline, the attitude, the sacrifice physically and from a game plan point of view, the coaching,” Cornes said.

“Like Dean Cox’s level has certainly gone up, and his reputation has increased after this.