Heeney wins third straight Swans best-and-fairest in absentia

Isaac Heeney has won Sydney's Bob Skilton Medal for the third year in a row. He was not in the room to accept it.

The Bob Skilton Medal is the Swans' best-and-fairest award, given to the club's best player for the season. Heeney took the 2026 honour ahead of Brodie Grundy in second and Charlie Curnow in third, according to ABC News.

Heeney was one of five Swans absent from the awards night. Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon also did not attend. Sydney had said earlier in the week that the suspended players would miss the function.

All five were banned from playing after breaching club standards over late-night partying at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne after a match on August 16. The club ruled them ineligible to play but left them eligible to win the medal.

Swans chairman Andrew Pridham said that call was about protecting votes already cast. He said the club wanted to keep off-field matters separate from on-field performance.

Police also spoke to Heeney, Jordon, Blakey and Warner as part of a separate investigation into an alleged sexual assault on the same night. No charges have been laid.

On the field, the win puts Heeney in rare company. He is the 11th player in South Melbourne and Sydney history to win three best-and-fairests. His run follows back-to-back wins in 2024 and 2025.

Elsewhere, the other club champions have been settled. Bailey Smith claimed his first Carji Greeves Medal with Geelong. Will Ashcroft won his first Merrett-Murray Medal with Brisbane. Zach Merrett won his seventh Crichton Medal with Essendon, equalling the club record held by Dick Reynolds and Bill Hutchison.

What makes this stand out is the empty chair at the centre of it. Sydney kept the vote pure. The night still felt incomplete.