Corey Warner has been called up to Sydney’s team for this weekend in the absence of five banned stars, including his brother Chad.

The West Australian is one of eight potential inclusions for the embattled Swans’ clash with North Melbourne at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

It comes with the club in crisis after five players — Warner, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Riley Bice — were banned for the rest of the season after an incident that led to Heeney becoming the centre of a police probe into sexual assault allegations at the team’s Melbourne hotel.

Police spoke to four of the group following the alleged assault in the early hours of Monday morning at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel, where Sydney were staying after their win over Essendon on Sunday evening.

Swans officials say the club-imposed sanction is independent of the ongoing investigation.

This masthead is not suggesting the players are guilty of any wrongdoing, just that they are assisting police with inquiries.

It has forced the Swans into a raft of changes for the clash with the Kangaroos after club chair Andrew Pridham on Wednesday conceded the club has likely “torpedoed” its premiership chances by suspending the five.

First-team regulars James Rowbottom and Angus Sheldrick will return for the match, while Tom Hanily, Patrick Snell, Caiden Cleary, Warner, Malcolm Rosas and veteran Harry Cunningham have also been added.

Heeney, Blakey, Jordon, Warner and Bice are the only five players pulled from the side at this stage.

The Swans are guaranteed a second-placed finish on the ladder, regardless of the result.

The Kangaroos — who shot into favouritism for the match when the scandal emerged on Monday — have lost star midfielder Harry Sheezel.

Bailey Scott, Luke McDonald, Josh Goater and Oliver Griffin have been added to their extended squad.

Because the game is played on Sunday, the Swans only had to name a 26-man group on Thursday, which will be trimmed to 23 on Friday.

“I think a very important point to make that as a football club, that is our business, and to effectively torpedo our season by making a decision such as this just tells you how seriously we’ve taken it,” Pridham said during a press conference earlier this week.

Swans CEO Matthew Pavlich did vow to be “glass half-full” around the team they would field.