‘Never forgiven’: Reality sets in for banned Swans after prelim heartbreak
One month ago, Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham declared the club was “torpedoing” its own season by choosing to suspend five players, following the events that occurred at the Pullman Hotel in Melbourne.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice were banned for the remainder of the season, after a night of partying following round 23.
Distraught Swans players. via Getty Images
Fast forward to preliminary final Friday night and the Swans led Fremantle by 28 points in the third quarter, before running out of steam and losing in heartbreaking fashion.
It goes without saying, if those five players had been on the SCG, especially the three All-Australian level stars, it’s difficult to imagine Sydney blowing that lead.
Their young players ran out of gas, their shallow midfield was battered and Fremantle took every opportunity as they pulled off the biggest comeback in the club’s history.
North Melbourne champion David King said as much in the aftermath of the loss.
“This was a campaign that was lost on August 16, not September 18. They were undermanned in the middle and out of petrol tickets. I felt for Sydney, they just couldn’t cover the ground,” King told Fox Footy.
"Swans fans will be talking about this season for years. They lost a prelim by two goals after losing all that talent. You'll be talking about that one for years.
“You feel for guys like Dane Rampe and James Rowbottom who just left everything out there.”
Sydney gave it everything they had. Guys like Rampe and Jake Lloyd who have played in four losing grand finals, Charlie Curnow, who blew up his relationship with Carlton to chase finals success and Tom Papley, who gave it everything he had and tried to spark the team – All will likely feel let down by the “torpedoing” of the season and the absence of those five key players.
With that in mind, Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd believes the ‘Pullman Five’ will “never be forgiven” by their teammates.
“I just want to commend the Swans, the players that were out there. They could not have given any more. They would be that proud of the players that were out there,” Lloyd told 3AW.
“Now that’s where the fallout is going to be big. That’s where it does turn. ‘You cost us. We were more than good enough’.
“That’s where a lot of people question whether they can ever play for the Swans again, because of this scenario. They’ll never be forgiven. Flags are that hard to win. They should have been there this week, but they won’t because of this.
“Suddenly, blame will start. The players out there are distraught.”
Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel agreed with Lloyd’s assessment.
“Rampe, and Papley, and a few others, they would be steaming on the inside. You put those players back into this team and you wonder if Freo would ever get back into this game,” Bartel said.
“They ran out of steam.”
Coach Dean Cox and injured captain Callum Mills leave the SCG. via Getty Images
Speaking after the game, Sydney coach Dean Cox refused to buy into discussion of the five players.
“It’s hard to say it’s a missed opportunity when you played a really good footy team. There’s a lot at stake. We missed our chance and didn’t take our moments and that’s why everyone’s disappointed,” Cox told reporters.
“I’m extremely proud of the club for putting on a performance like that against North and then Brisbane and then to go again, uniting, galvanising to try and get our season to the last game … and we fell short.
"It looked a little bit like we (ran out of juice). I think we were in a really good position and to Freo's credit, you can't give a team any momentum and they took it."
Sydney’s off-season now begins, and they will have to work out how to integrate these five players back into the club for day one of pre-season.
The rest of the club meanwhile will attend the Brownlow Medal on Monday night. They could have some kind of Mad Monday celebration. Both events will be muted and tainted by the Pullman Five’s mistakes.
Blakey reportedly wants a fresh start and a trade out of the club, while Warner has declared, he wants to stay and earn back the trust of his teammates.
It’s going to be a long summer for the Swans.
