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‘I wasn’t in the room’: Swans speak out on scandal, five teammates who ‘let us down’ Sydney Swans coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills addressed reporters on Friday morning regarding the alleged sexual assault scandal that has engulfed the club. Cox flatly denied being in the room following a claim from the alleged victim’s legal representation that there were “even a few leaders” present. Full details below. Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The alleged incident at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne on Monday morning remains the subject of a Victoria Police sexual assault investigation. The Swans have stood down Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon for the remainder of the season as a result. ‘MOST DISGUSTING ACTIONS’: Swans hit back as lawyer alleges ‘leaders’ were in hotel room ‘ALL I CARE ABOUT IS JUSTICE’: Alleged victim in Swans saga speaks amid ‘nine men’, drug claims Cox and Mills, dressed in suits for the press conference, first delivered respective opening statements before answering a bevy of questions from the media pack at Moore Park. “We all have women in our lives we deeply love,” Cox began outside Swans headquarters. “I would like to express that respect for women is of the highest priority for both myself personally, and our football club. “We have some fantastic women working at our football club, both in the AFLW program and on staff; our thoughts are with them, and I apologise to them, along with the women in the community, for the actions of the players. “We are extremely disappointed in the actions of the players, and the sanctions imposed by the board show how serious we take these matters. “To those women involved, I hope everyone is getting the support they need. “A culture isn’t perfect. One thing that we do know is our culture has taken a hit. “The thing you need to understand about a culture is how you respond, and the actions you take following being hit. “We are going to work as hard as we possibly can to get the trust back from the community to get to the culture where we desire to be, where we once have been.” Mills said he was “deeply shocked and disappointed to be here”. “I firstly want to apologise to the AFLW players, our female staff, and the women in our lives. Our partners, mothers, sisters, and all women within the community,” he said. “We take these allegations extremely seriously, and we hope the women involved are getting all the support they deserve. “We’re really disappointed in the actions of these five players, and as a playing group, we fully support the club’s decision on the sanctions handed down. “We take full responsibility, and we are deeply sorry.” The woman who has alleged she was sexually assaulted claimed in an interview with the Herald Sun that there were nine men in the hotel room over the course of the night. The first question off the bat to Cox pressed on whether there were Swans staff members in the room, beyond the five players in question. “That’s a police investigation,” Cox replied. It was the most common phrase uttered during the press conference. The same journalist followed up, asking if it was information the Swans would know, irrespective of the police probe. Cox paused for about three seconds before saying: “That’s a police investigation, so all that will be brought out in due course.” Cox was asked whether it was a mistake to allow the players to go out without a curfew. “We spoke post-game about what’s required to make the right decisions,” he said. “These obviously aren’t the right decisions, and that’s why we’ve acted as a football club and come down with the sanctions.” After telling commentary from premiership coach John Longmire and former captain Kieran Jack — who labelled the club’s culture “broken” — Cox was probed on whether he’d ‘lost control’ of the players and culture. “I’ve been at the football club for nine years. Every person within those four walls we value extremely highly, and they have a massive say on our culture as a group,” said Cox. “We understand, as leaders, we need to lead that culture. But what we are going to do is back ourselves in. “We’re going to move forward, and we’re going to strive as strongly as we possibly can to repay the faith.” In a particularly tense moment, Cox was asked to confirm that he wasn’t one of the people in the room that night. Cox said: “I wasn’t in the room.” It came following comments from Carbone Lawyers personal injury head John Karantzis — representing two of the women involved in the scandal — to 3AW on Friday. “It’s more than five (men in the room), that’s for sure,” Karantzis told Tom Elliott. “More than five men, and it’s alleged that there were even a few leaders in that room.” But the Swans released an official comment shortly after the conclusion of the press conference, stating there were no club representatives other than the five players in the room. “The Sydney Swans can confirm that all investigations carried out by the Club have consistently indicated that the only representatives of the Club in the room central to the police investigation were the five players who have been stood down,” the statement on Friday read. “We have every reason to consider that reports to the contrary are simply false.” Mills, who quickly denied a “rift within the group” when asked, said the five players had “let us down” while revealing his apology to the women’s playing cohort. “I addressed the AFLW players, and I acknowledged their pain, and I apologised for the actions of a few within our group,” Mills said. “It’s a police investigation, what happened in the room, but we believe that the five players have let us down. “And we believe that we’ll be doing everything we possibly can to repay the respect and the trust of the community again.” Mills wouldn’t directly answer repeated questions on whether he’d welcome the five players back to the club again. “My position is that I fully support the sanctions that have been handed down by the club,” he said. Cox then chimed in before a different question was asked: “And on top of that, I’ve spoken to the players. “My role as the senior coach is to support our players, but we are fully supportive of the decision the board made. “That is unanimous. And it is not a football issue. “Monday morning was not a football issue. Yes, the behaviours were breached, and that’s why the sanctions were handed down. “I’ve spoken to them about their welfare, and that is what I’ll always do. “I can’t ask them any questions or speak to them about what happened that night, because it is a police investigation. “But as you can imagine, everyone at the football club and everyone in general has had different emotions. And they’ve gone through all of them.” Mills confirmed he’d spoken to the five players, calling those conversations “extremely hard”. “Our club has taken a massive hit with its culture, and we deem that those behaviours that were displayed on the weekend were far from what we believe is the standard that we need to be,” he said. Cox was asked about fans who were reconsidering attending Sunday’s AFL/W double-header. “I haven’t looked at football this week,” Cox said. “North (Melbourne), without disrespect to them and what our club needs, it is about trying to work through this process as quickly and as thoroughly as we possibly can, with respecting all parties. “Football … I hope our fans stand by us. Our club is united, our playing group’s united between both programs, and we want to show that on Sunday.” In the sole football-related question of the press conference, Cox was asked whether he was still confident his second-placed Swans could win this year’s premiership. “All I need to do is make sure that our football club can gel as quickly as we possibly can, and we get an opportunity as a playing group to make sure that we do that on Sunday,” he said. “I can’t look any further than that. I first have to get my head into North Melbourne, and the historic moment our double-header presents.” Sydney AFLW coach Colin O’Riordan and AFLW captain Lucy McEvoy also addressed the media in the afternoon. McEvoy confirmed none of the five Swans players in question had reached out to her or any other of the AFLW players. She also said that while there hadn’t yet been discussions about the potential reintegration of the Swans five at the club, when the time does come, she “absolutely” wants input in those decisions. “We’re extremely disappointed with what’s occurred at the beginning of the week,” McEvoy told reporters at club headquarters. “We’ve had some really open conversations as a group this week and with the club more broadly. “We’ve felt the support both internally an externally as well, and the girls are working through their emotions as they see fit for themselves, personally. “And we wrap our arms around everyone as we do the whole entire club and the community also. “I won’t go into the specifics of what was said; all I can say is that we’re certainly very supportive of one another. “The standards have been breached, and we fully acknowledge that as a group … and we’ve just allowed the space for players to express how they really feel, and then support one another where we can.” McEvoy added: “There’s no doubt that the club has taken a reputational hit this week. “And we’ll do whatever we can as a club in both programs to make sure we build back the trust of our members and fans, and the community more broadly.” O’Riordan was asked for his thoughts on the Swans’ culture, as a former member of the men’s playing cohort. “Look, I think … at this moment in time, it just feels like we’re in a place where we have taken a big hit. “I’m probably not really in a position to be able to talk about what happened before because it’s probably a separate issue. “But at the minute, we know we’re in a position where we have to repair a lot. Our trust is broken within a lot of people. “But as a club, we are incredibly united. I’ve seen it in the W program coming across from the men’s. “This is a united club. It always has been; it always will be. And I think we just need to stay united in this time, which we are.” Follow all the latest developments and reaction in our blog below. If you can’t see the blog, tap here.