Swans AFLW captain says club has taken ‘reputational hit’
Updated August 21, 2026 — 2:24pm,first published 1:25pmYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.Sydney Swans AFLW captain Lucy McEvoy says the club has “taken a reputational hit” after five male players were stood down for breaching club standards and a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault continues.However, McEvoy said the actions of those players – James Jordon, Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice and Nick Blakey – were not a reflection of the broader club, and called on fans to support the team at Sunday’s double-header at the SCG, which will be the second time the women’s team have played a competitive match at the historic venue.Loading“On behalf of the playing group, we also support the club in the sanctions that were handed down to the players,” McEvoy said on Friday.“We are incredibly disappointed, as a lot of people are, with what’s occurred at the beginning of this week, and we know that the actions of those five players are not a reflection of the broader club and the programs more broadly.”AdvertisementThe men’s captain Callum Mills spoke to the women’s team earlier in the week, but McEvoy confirmed that none of the five suspended players had been in contact with the AFLW team.McEvoy denied there was any rift between the AFL and AFLW programs, saying the club was “absolutely united”. The two programs united this week and even shared a barbecue at the club’s headquarters.McEvoy said the women’s team had not discussed how they would feel about any of the five players returning to the club in the future, but when asked if it was something she would like input in, she said, “absolutely, yes”.Mills acknowledged that the women’s game at the SCG had been “overshadowed” when speaking at a press conference earlier on Friday, but asked members and fans to support the AFLW team.Advertisement“It’s a historic weekend for the football club; it’s our first double-header of AFLW and men’s program together on the SCG,” Mills said.“And whilst this has overshadowed it, I think it’s an incredible, powerful moment that we’ve come together, and we celebrate that moment of AFLW program out on the SCG.”McEvoy said the women’s team had received a huge amount of support this week from the club and community, and encouraged fans to attend the double-header, despite the scandal surrounding the club.“This week was supposed to be a really big day for our football club and the W program, so to be able to get that support – and we feel it a lot, we’ve had a lot of messages through social media – and the best way that we can support us in this moment is get to the game on Sunday and hopefully break a record crowd that we once set a few years ago,” McEvoy said.AdvertisementMills went and spoke with the women’s team earlier in the week, where he “apologised for the actions of a few within our group” - which McEvoy said she was and the other women’s players appreciated.“He [Mills] was quite remorseful on behalf of the men’s program, and he’s a really class human being, Millsy,” McEvoy said.“The respect he has for us and the respect we have for him and the way he’s handled himself this week is second to none, and we couldn’t have asked more from him as a captain of the men’s program, and we really appreciate him taking the time to wrap his arms around us as a football club.”O’Riordan urged fans to help break the Swans’ AFLW home attendance record of 8264, set at their first game in 2022 at North Sydney Oval against St Kilda.Advertisement“I think for us as a club to break a record like that after such a tough week and disappointing week for the club would be incredible,” O’Riordan said.“But I think it would lift everyone and every woman in NSW and probably nationwide; it would lift them to show support, come out in your numbers and support these incredible women. I think that’s what we’re all after; I hope we can get that.”You have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.More:AFL off-field behaviourAFLWAFL 2026Sydney SwansBillie Eder is a sports reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.Jonathan Drennan is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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