Finals week at the Swans has gone from open arms to closed ranks

September 4, 2026 — 7:00pm

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The Sydney Swans have reached the finals 24 times in the past 30 seasons. It is a remarkable record, but football in September is never taken for granted.

Normally, the week leading into the finals is a time for the Swans to embrace the increased demands of the Sydney media. Players who might normally speak in stock-standard cliches open up about their lives. This year, for obvious reasons, that has all changed, and the club has been forced to limit access to the squad.

Five players, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice and James Jordon, are serving club-imposed suspensions for breaching the Swans’ behavioural standards during a night out in Melbourne last month. The five have denied any criminal wrongdoing, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, and a separate police investigation into an alleged sexual assault is ongoing.

The........

© Brisbane Times