Arabic version: رامبي يقول إن أزمة الفندق أثّرت في قرار اعتزاله

According to ABC News, retiring Sydney Swans defender Dane Rampe said he felt hurt and upset after the Pullman Hotel saga disrupted what he had expected to be his final AFL season. The 36-year-old confirmed his playing career is over after 289 games and said he had quietly decided around this time last year that the season would likely be his last.

Sydney finished second on the ladder before its finals campaign was derailed when vice-captain Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice were stood down. The five were suspended from round 24 and the club’s two finals for what the Swans called a serious breach of expected club behaviour and standards.

The AFL-endorsed club bans were separate from an ongoing police investigation into an alleged sexual assault at the Pullman Hotel. No charges have been laid, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the suspended players. Rampe said the events late in the season had muddied his thinking about retirement and made it difficult to accept that this was how he would bow out.

Rampe said conversations with coach Dean Cox and football Leon Cameron brought clarity. Cox told him he was struggling to meet the physical demands after 14 seasons in the system, and Rampe said he could no longer give the 100 per cent that defined him as a Swans player. A 2019 Bob Skilton Medallist and 2016 All-Australian, Rampe co-captained Sydney from 2019 to 2023 and played in four losing grand finals.

He captained the Swans in his final match, a preliminary-final loss to Fremantle, after Callum Mills suffered an ACL injury in the semi-final win over Brisbane. Rampe said he had nothing confirmed beyond taking a break from the AFL, but was completely at peace with where the club sits and hoped it would continue to have challenging conversations.