Sydney coach Dean Cox says the five players who are in exile during a police investigation will remain suspended, but admits reintegration talks are changing daily.
7NEWS first reported on Wednesday that Riley Bice would not return for Sydney’s finals campaign, despite the fact police have confirmed he is now being treated only as a witness to the alleged sexual assault incident at the Pullman Hotel.
“All five will remain stood down from the football club,” Cox said on Wednesday.
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“That’s one thing we spoke about at the start, the police investigation and behavioural nature of it were going to be separated.
“That will still remain.”
The other four players who are suspended are Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon and Nick Blakey, but Cox did not want to discuss if or when those players would be brought back into the football club.
“(Reintegration) talks change daily. I think one thing that we’re unsure about is the nature of what reintegration looks like and getting the best balance between what the players and footy clubs need,” he said.
But when pressed on the future of the suspended players and how that looked during the trade period, Cox was quick to shut down the line of questioning.
“There’s so many things we need to talk about,” Cox said. “So not for today.”
The players have denied criminal wrongdoing, no charges have been laid in relation to the police investigation, and 7NEWS.com.au is not suggesting any criminal wrongdoing by any of the players interviewed.
“Vic Police and the football club came out with a statement, and I won’t comment too much further on those statements,” Cox told reporters on Thursday.
He also did not reveal if the club had conducted its own drug testing amid claims illicit drugs were present in the hotel.
“We adhere to the illicit drug policy, and that’s one thing the footy club always do, I’m not privy to that information, but that’s something we’ll continue to do,” he said.
Cox said he was maintaining contact with all five players but operating purely from a welfare standpoint while defending the culture of the club.
“My first part of the conversation has only been how they’re going. I haven’t touched anything on the investigation; we need to get all the facts before we make any assumption of what it looks like,” he said.
“As a football club, we want to become a better football club, and that’s what we continue to do.”
While Sydney club chairman Andrew Pridham claimed the suspensions would “torpedo” the second-placed Swans’ premiership hopes, Cox was adamant the playing group still had drive.
The Swans return to the SCG after a bye weekend following their emotional 53-point win over North Melbourne, where Cox and captain Callum Mills were in tears after the siren.
“There’s still an expectation. You’re hosting a qualifying final at home with a chance to go into a prelim, so there’s still a hell of a lot at stake,” Cox said.
“That’s one thing that I want to make sure our players are aware of: the magnitude of this game for our football club and what we’ve spent so long trying to get to.
“The playing group is really excited about this opportunity; we are still as driven to win a premiership as we were a month ago, we’ve stood as one, and that’s something we’ll continue to do.
“The players understand the leadership of the footy club has as much belief in this group to achieve what we want to achieve and the brand and style we play has put us into a position to earn a qualifying final.”
Cox also thanked the support of fans as he committed to repaying the faith shown to the club amid crisis.
“The love and the support our supporters give us, there is no greater stadium and the passion they’ve shown they’ve stood by us through some tough times, and we want to repay that.”
– With AAP
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