Sydney Swans president Andrew Pridham admits club had to ‘torpedo our season’ with ‘serious’ action against players

Sydney Swans president Andrew Pridham admits the club’s board had accepted they would “effectively torpedo our season” in putting their foot down “incredibly hard” and suspending five players on the eve of the AFL finals.

Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon were on Wednesday stood down for the rest of the campaign after being found to have breached the “high” club standards, having stayed out drinking into the early hours of Monday morning before bringing women back to the team’s Melbourne hotel.

The action is separate to an ongoing police investigation into a report of a sexual assault.

Pridham and CEO Matthew Pavlich addressed the media on Wednesday afternoon, apologising to fans for the “deep disappointment”.

“Many have expressed their deep concerns with the events. To them we just want to say that we want to work very, very hard t o rebuild your trust,” Pridham said.

“Clearly this is a very sad day for us and for everybody involved. I know that the five players involved (are) extremely remorseful for their actions and having breached club standards.

“I think that the sanctions that we’ve imposed and the impact that will have on our football season is clear for all to see.”

Pridham confirmed the football outcome “was not a consideration” in deciding how to punish the players.

Pavlich, who is just one year into his role, said “representing this club takes a lot of responsibility”.

“We’re not shying away from this issue. We’ve made a big statement. We’ve taken this incredibly seriously,” he said.

Pridham said the board felt it was “very, very important” to set a “very, very high standard and bar in terms of the seriousness of this matter and the impact it’s had on the club and the community and other people”.

He acknowledged the proximity to the finals made the outcome a “very, very significant sanction”.

Asked if he felt the club failed to get a message of respect through to the players, Pridham accepted “clearly something has gone wrong”.

“They shouldn’t have been in that in that situation of being out that late, and the only way we can deal with it is to put our foot down incredibly hard, which we’ve done,” the president said.