“Should Sydney be removed from AFL Premiership contention?”
It's the footballing debate that has quietly bubbled as a firmly secondary conversation behind the shock of serious allegations levelled against Sydney's quintet this week.
St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt rightly pointed out on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters that there is now a premium for finishing in third position and playing a Sydney side under crisis.
On the back of one of the biggest footy scandals of the decade, how can Sydney seriously compete, let alone at a time of year the rest of the competition has set themselves to peak? Collingwood coach Craig McRae has found a formula that has worked for his side in recent weeks after epitaphs were written mid-season; Brisbane have turned a corner after a lull in the heart of winter and Fremantle has been expertly managing game time in the last month to set itself for a shot at an inaugural flag.
Meanwhile, Sydney's chairman has admitted the players' serious error, breach of standards and possible criminality has torpedoed their season. Cox admitted that he had not even considered football this week due to what transpired.
Given the gravity of what has unfolded, it is impossible to fault him for that. But where does it leave Sydney ahead of finals?
Among a plethora of statements the club has been forced to make as a result of the saga this week, those two stood out.
The counterargument, though, is that this was an error isolated to a group of players. As serious as it was, should the rest of the squad, who have been building to this climax since returning to pre-season in November, be effectively sanctioned by being removed from September?
Footy is a team sport which requires everyone pulling in the same direction for success to occur, and members of the team have deviated from the course.
The AFL does have the power to expel clubs from the finals in exceptional circumstances, as it demonstrated when the drugs saga gripped Essendon.
But unlike in the Essendon drugs saga, which is the only precedent for a club being booted from the finals race, this has not been a systemic saga, nor related to on-field performance enhancement, but rather an isolated incident confined to several players.
The more compelling argument for excluding Sydney from the finals series is that it compromises the integrity of the competition. Cox's and Pridham's quotes highlight just how far Sydney are from a competitive mindset at a time when the mentality of sport is given as much, if not more, weight than the physical aspect.
To that end, what are they adding to September, other than an unfair free hit for whichever club is fortunate enough to face them in finals?
While undermanned, an annual line rolled out by premiership coaches is that it takes a squad to win a premiership, cueing perennial debate about whether every member of the playing group should be bestowed with a premiership medal. Now is the time for Sydney to call on the squad.
To kick a club out of finals also poses a risk given none of the players have yet been criminally convicted or found guilty.
As of Friday 21 August, the story, which has taken several significant and at times unexpected turns in recent days, is exceedingly unlikely to include a club being excluded from a finals series because the issue likely falls short of the threshold required for such drastic action.
But that does not change that Sydney's involvement in finals will cast a dark shadow over the most momentous period of the AFL calendar. Every mention of the Swans in September will bear a reminder of the alleged events on November 17.
Should Sydney win a final – or more - the story will become that a club has rallied from its knees, which is completely distinct from the real story and conversation that should flow as a result.
Allowing the mind to wander to a hypothetical situation which, granted, is beyond the realms of even the most rusted-on supporters' imagination, what would the optics be like for the AFL, and how would fans feel if they triumphed on the last Saturday in September?
If they lose, as everyone expects will occur, the integrity of the competition will be called into question. The manner of the loss also threatens to add a particularly pertinent question.
Beyond just the win, how much of a physical advantage would an opponent have if it is a relatively bruise-free contest and they come up against a banged-up opponent coming off a classic September win?
The purity of the premiership race should never be called into question, but that is a major threat which will likely hover over the competition in September.
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