Sydney insist they are giving their AFLW players all the support they need as the club gears up for a "difficult" double-header just days after the Swans' worst ever off-field scandal came to light.
Swans stars Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Nick Blakey, as well as Riley Bice and James Jordon, have been banned for the rest of the AFL season for their early morning behaviour at a Melbourne hotel.
The players have been linked to an ongoing police investigation into sexual assault allegations, with the bombshell news rocking the AFL and the wider community.
AFLW trailblazer Daisy Pearce, who is now West Coast's women's coach, supported the move to ban the players.
Sydney captain Callum Mills, who isn't linked to the investigation, spoke to the Swans' AFLW player group on Tuesday to issue an apology about the current scandal.
It comes in a week where the Swans will host a historic double-header at the SCG on Sunday, with Sydney's women to face off against Essendon before the men finish their AFL regular season against North Melbourne.
What was meant to be a double-header full of pride has now been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the men's team.
"Look, it's going to be difficult," Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham said.
"But our approach very much will be to celebrate having a historic double-header with the women's team playing, and I know they're very excited about that, and we just have to make it as normal as possible.
"Clearly, respecting the circumstances of this week is going to make that that difficult. But you know we're hopeful that our fans turn up, and to the extent they feel willing to do so, come and support the team."
Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich said the Swans' AFLW players had been left "deeply disappointed" by the events of Monday morning.
"Their welfare is the utmost importance to us, and we're supporting them as best we can," Pavlich said.
"We've met with them a number of times, we're continuing to work closely with them because they have got a game to prepare for on Sunday."
When asked about Sydney's culture in terms of their respect for women, Pavlich replied: "All I've seen so far at this football club, barring this significant incident, is that we are one club and we treat and respect women incredibly well, and it's of the utmost importance to our football club."
Pearce, who is in her third year as West Coast's AFLW coach, applauded Sydney's decision to ban the players before any potential criminal proceedings had taken place.
"I don't know the facts of the incident itself, but on the topic of violence against women, sexual assault, that's a society issue and one that we know there's no place for in our society," Pearce said.
"So it's really disappointing that this has come up again, not just in the country, but for it to happen within the footy industry is a disappointing thing that we don't tolerate."
