SYDNEY CEO Matthew Pavlich says the club has started "deep work" on the culture of its men's playing group after the latest off-field scandal.
Swans forward Tom Papley this week returned a positive preliminary drug test after being pulled over by police, while he was also issued with a court attendance notice for driving with a suspended licence.
The Papley incident comes just weeks after the Pullman Hotel scandal that saw five players suspended by the club for breaching behavioural standards and remains the subject of an ongoing police investigation.
On Thursday, Pavlich did not dismiss the suggestion the club has a cultural problem said he was "bitterly disappointed" in Papley, who received "direct feedback" from the club on Wednesday.
When asked directly if the club has a cultural problem, Pavlich replied: "I think we're looking at that right now. We've been identifying that over the last eight weeks and we've started some deep work on that with our AFL men's department, with independent advisors helping us through that.
"They're the questions we're asking ourselves right now and asking our players. We'll continue to update everyone about that, probably later today.
"I think on that basis, we need to be better. This is not something that anyone is stopping short of knowing that we've got a lot of way to go and we've got some deep work to do and understand how we get better for the future."
Pavlich said the past few months have been "a really disappointing time for the footy club".
"We're obviously bitterly disappointed that we're here talking about this today. We're really disappointed in Tom himself and we voiced that pretty directly to him yesterday," he said.
"We apologise unreservedly to our members, fans and corporate partners. We've let them down again and we must be better. It's a really disappointing time for the footy club.
"But given this is a police matter, we cannot make any further comment until such time as the secondary sample comes through and that test is validated. We'll work through that process over the next period and we'll update everyone after that."
Pavlich said the club's corporate partners were standing by them.
"We've spoken to another them over this last period, we're staying connected to them. They're disappointed, they're angry, they're supportive. They know that over a long period of time that the club has upheld really high standards and I can guarantee everyone that we will continue to do that," he said.
More to come
