Police close the Swans case without charges. The club says nobody should celebrate, and three women are still heading to court

Victoria Police has closed its investigation into four Sydney Swans players without laying a single charge.

The decision, confirmed on Friday morning eastern time, covers Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon and Nick Blakey, who had been under investigation since three women made reports to police after a gathering at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne in August, following the Swans’ win over Essendon on 17 August.

“Victoria Police will not proceed with criminal charges due to insufficient evidence,” a police spokesperson said. Police said the decision followed a thorough investigation and legal advice, and that they would make no further comment because of an ongoing civil matter.

What does “insufficient evidence” mean here?

It means police and their legal advisers did not believe they had enough evidence to put a charge before a court. It is not a finding about what happened in the room, and both sides have been careful to say so.

Jackson Pannam, a senior lawyer at Slater and Gordon who represents one of the women, said his client was “devastated by this outcome”. He said she had shown “enormous courage in coming forward”, and that a decision not to lay charges does not mean an incident did not happen. He linked the outcome to wider under-reporting of sexual offences, and said a civil case was being prepared against the relevant parties.

John Karantzis of Carbone Lawyers, who acts for two women in a civil claim against the club, said his clients were “very disappointed and distressed” and would “vigorously pursue this claim”.

What has the club said?

Sydney’s chief executive, Matthew Pavlich, said it had been a difficult period for everyone involved and that the decision was “a moment for them to move forward”. He was blunt about the tone: “This is not a day for anyone to really celebrate.”

The club said it stands by its decision to stand down Heeney, Warner, Jordon, Blakey and a fifth player, Riley Bice, for round 24 and both of Sydney’s finals. It said the players’ conduct “fell short of the standards of behaviour expected at the club”, and that the sanction was separate from the police investigation. Bice had already been cleared by police earlier in the investigation.

Pavlich promised the club would do “everything we can to restore the standards”. Asked about the civil claims, he said the club would deal with them as they come.

What did the players say?

Heeney, 30, welcomed the decision. He said the past three months had been “incredibly difficult” for his family and his fiancée, and thanked the club, his teammates and supporters.

Blakey has since left Sydney for North Melbourne, and apologised earlier for “the events that led up to my exit from Sydney”.

Why does this still matter to the AFL?

The case reaches beyond one club. Sydney stood down five senior players on the eve of a finals campaign, a rare sanction for an AFL club to impose on itself, and two of the civil claims are aimed at the club rather than individuals. That means the questions about what the Swans knew, how players were supervised on an interstate trip and what the club’s standards actually require will now be tested in a civil court, where the standard of proof is lower than in a criminal trial.

The AFL has kept the right to reopen its own inquiries if further information emerges.

For Sydney’s list, the practical effect is that Heeney, Warner and Jordon are free of the criminal cloud heading into the summer pre-season, while the club runs its own review of its football program.

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