‘It’s up to the clubs’: AFL CEO says there’s risk in trading for besieged Swans

AFL boss Andrew Dillon says the league will leave it to the clubs to decide whether they wish to trade for any of the five suspended Sydney Swans players amid an ongoing police investigation into allegations of sexual assault against potentially four of the five.

Dillon said the AFL still reserved the right to sanction the relevant players – Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice – for their behaviour at the Pullman following the conclusion of the police investigation.

But any decision on stand downs – the AFL can stand down players who face criminal charges – would hinge on the nature and severity of any charges.

Heeney, Warner, Blakey and Jordon are persons of interest the in a police investigation stemming from the night. Three women have alleged they were sexually assaulted and touched inappropriately without consent. No charges have yet been laid, and the players have all denied criminal wrongdoing .

Dillon said clubs had to do their due diligence if they were interested in acquiring any of the players and take on the inherent risks. Police have confirmed that Bice is not a suspect and is being treated only as a witness in the investigation.

“I think from an AFL point of view, it would be it’s business as usual,” Dillon told this masthead, when asked how the AFL would handle any trades. “So, ultimately, it will be for the Swans, and I don’t know where the Swans are at with the players ... If there’s a club that was looking to acquire one of those players or any others, you do your due diligence, and that’s where that there will be uncertainty for the foreseeable future while there’s a police investigation still going.”

Dillon said it would be up the clubs to make their own calls. “Then it’s you do your due diligence, and you understand there’s obviously risks that come. There’s risk with them staying with the Swans, obviously, and there’s risk if they leave,” he said.

Dillon, whose initial response to the Pullman episode was one of “disbelief”, said if any charges were laid before the Swans returned for pre-season, the nature of those charges would determine if and when the accused players could come back to the club and train.

“It depends what the charges are, depends when they’re laid ... there’s rules at the AFL’s disposal for stand down and the like. There might be club sanctions as well in relation if there was charging as well. So, we’d work with the club and the players’ association and the players looking at the AFL rules ... if that eventuates.”

The five Swans returned to the club on Wednesday and met with teammates and for exit interviews. This masthead has reported that Blakey has been willing to entertain a trade, while Warner, a restricted free agent next year, has not considered that possibility of moving this year, a well-placed source has confirmed. All five are contracted for 2027 or beyond.

While the AFL does not have an automatic no-fault stand-down policy like the NRL’s, Dillon said there was a threshold for charges that would bring stand downs.