“It’s a bad look”: Why Mooney would be “filthy” with Warner if he were a Swans teammate

Cameron Mooney does not like the look of Chad Warner playing golf with a rival CEO.

The Sydney star reportedly hit the course in Perth with West Coast chief and former Swans assistant Don Pyke as well as the club’s Head of Strategy & Innovation Kieren Jack, a former Swan.

In isolation this would simply be seen as former colleagues catching up, especially considering the 2024 All-Australian is a Western Australian native, but the fact that he is being heavily linked with the Eagles creates a whole new element.

Mooney says he would be “filthy” if he were a teammate of Warner’s given the speculation surrounding the 23-year-old who has a year to run on his current deal.

“I’m sorry, I think it looks really bad,” Mooney said on SEN Breakfast.

“I’m a little bit filthy if I’m Chad’s teammate.

“People might say, ‘Well, they’re just mates’. Absolutely they’re mates, but they’re mates who are working for a team that are after you.”

Prompting co-host Sam Edmund to ask: “So you didn’t mix with friends from other clubs ever?”

Mooney replied: “Not if my name was on the table being speculated on, no.

“I would not be happy with that.”

Edmund added: “He’s gone home, he’s from there, so he’s allowed to do that.”

Mooney continued: “People will come at me and say they’re mates and they can do that, but Don Pyke is the CEO of a club that’s basically opening the door for you.

“No. Sorry. It’s a bad look. I wouldn’t be happy if I was Chad’s teammates if he was over there playing golf with Don Pyke.”

Mooney, who won two premierships with Geelong in the late 2000s, insists that he would certainly be having a conversation with Warner if he were part of Sydney’s leadership group.

He referenced the transparency of movement in the NRL ranks where players often sign with rival clubs before playing out the season with their current club.

“Yeah, 100 per cent (I’d talk to him),” said Mooney.

“I’d say, ‘Mate, are you invested with us or not?’.

“Are we going to go down the path of the NRL where they sign at a team and play the rest of the season out?

“I think that is the worse look you can ever have. I would be filthy with my teammate. I’d say, ‘Mate, go now’.

“I just think it’s a really bad look. If you’re a Swans teammate, you’re saying, ‘We’re trying to win premierships and you’re one of our most important pieces and you’re off playing golf with the CEO of a club that’s trying to get you through their door’.

“It doesn’t look good. I’m sorry, that’s my opinion.

“You’ve got to know how that looks (as the player). When you’re speculated about going to that club, and then you’re playing golf with the CEO…

“Even for ‘Pykey’ to do that. It’s terrible, it looks terrible and I would be p--sed off if I was his teammate.”

Mooney reflected on his own time as a player and was unimpressed that Warner would do something that his teammates will no doubt have to answer for.

“Don’t do something that your teammates have got to answer questions for,” he said further.

“Right now, if a Swans player goes up to do an interview, what’s the first question that will be thrown at them?

“‘What do you think of Chad Warner playing golf with Don Pyke, the CEO of West Coast?’. You’re putting that player under the pump.

“I just think it’s a bad look and a bad call.”

Incoming Swans coach Dean Cox commented on Warner earlier this week after taking the reins from John Longmire, saying re-signing the dynamic on-baller is the “top of our priority now”.

Listen to Mooney below: