The AFL has been shamed for its lackluster response to Eddie Betts’ damning revelations about the Adelaide Crows’ infamous 2018 pre-season training camp, which has been described as a “miserable failure”.
Betts put the controversial camp, which followed Adelaide’s 2017 grand final loss to Richmond, back into the spotlight on Tuesday night, detailing behind-the-scenes information in his forthcoming autobiography. The boy from Boomerang Crescent.
Alleged confidential information three times Australian shared in counseling sessions had been misused, writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.
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After the Test, Betts said he approached the Crows and expressed his concerns with the camp, only to be dropped from the leadership group three weeks later.
Six players requested a trade from Adelaide between 2018 and 2020, while an additional four free agents left the club after the camp.
Speaking to Fox Footy’s AFL 360 On Wednesday, Betts claimed those running the camp told them not to say “anything to anybody.”
“We weren’t even allowed to tell our colleagues. To this day, our colleagues still don’t know what we have done in our group… that’s how we feel very divided and the club has been broken since that moment”, he explained.
“I saw that we were all hurting and tried to make changes at the time. But you just couldn’t seem to talk and you couldn’t seem to say everything.”
Initial investigations into the doomed camp were given full clearance by the AFL’s integrity unit and SafeWork SA.
The AFL Players’ Association will now open a new inquiry into the field, and will contact all Adelaide players to seek “further understanding” of what happened during the trip. However, the AFL and SafeWork SA confirmed on Wednesday that they would not reopen investigations into the pitch.
Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers apologized to Betts at a press conference on Wednesday.
“Anyone who leaves our club who doesn’t have a positive experience, we’re sorry,” he told reporters.
“I think we can move forward, but we would like to apologize to Eddie and anyone else who had a negative experience on the field.”
Speaking on Channel 9 Footy Classifiedveteran journalist Caroline Wilson criticized the AFL and WorkSafe SA for failing to take substantial action following their initial investigation.
“Discipline and punishment were required,” he said Wednesday night.
“The AFL is telling me today they haven’t broken any rules. What about bringing the game into disrepute or misconduct?
“Surely what we’ve heard from Eddie Betts is bringing the game into disrepute?
“How could they not take action? I know they put measures in but that wasn’t good enough for me.
“They knew all this and did nothing.”
Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto, who represented the club for 15 seasons, has also been hit back for his response to Betts’ allegations on Wednesday morning.
“The welfare of the players is always number one, no matter what,” he told Adelaide’s Triple M breakfast with Roo, Ditts and Loz.
“You always want everyone to be happy and all that. It’s very sad that Eddie has written that, and I think the club have gone on record at times to say they’ve acknowledged it wasn’t handled perfectly.
“Everything had good intentions, but it didn’t go perfectly. They have recognized it.”
Wilson criticized those comments Footy Classified: “It’s obviously devastating, what Mark Ricciuto says is so inaccurate.
“(They say) ‘we’ve moved on from that as a club’, they’ve never moved on. The AFL will tell you that’s part of the problem.
“How can you describe some of these revelations as less than perfect? They’re horrifying.”
Meanwhile, SEN broadcaster Gerard Whateley called the AFL’s statement a “miserable failure”.
“It took 28 words to acknowledge the hurt Eddie Betts experienced. And 177 words of pathetic self-justification of all the good the league has done and no one named him. No sorrow, no regret, no commitment to the action,” he said.
“Reading between the lines, I would assume the AFL lives in fear of a class action from players who were abused.”
Wilson also called AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh, claiming he had urged him to investigate the Crows field further several times to no avail.
“I spoke to Paul Marsh on countless occasions … I called him repeatedly over a period of 18 months,” he said.
“How can he say he wasn’t aware (of the details Betts’ book reveals)? I’m surprised by that more than anything.
“Then I called him with other accusations, terrible accusations from other players.
“How can you say that now … they (AFLPA) are paid a lot of money, surely their investigative resources are better than that.”
Those of the Age Sam McClure continued on 3AW’s Sports day: “Paul Marsh’s statement, to put it bluntly, is convenient.
“The AFL and the AFL Players’ Association had access to all the information that journalists reporting on things had access to. All they had to do was pick up the phone and have a private conversation.
“Now they are saying this is all new information and they will be re-investigating – sorry it’s too little too late for me.”
Marsh confirmed the AFLPA first became aware of the Crows’ pitch problems following media reports, but stressed the players initially told the union there was “nothing to it”.
“It’s not that we haven’t had conversations, and I’m certainly not saying we didn’t know there was a level of angst about it,” he said. NO Breakfast on Thursday morning.
“I’m open to the opinion of some that maybe we should have tried harder, so I’m not saying that everything that could have been done was done. But we certainly tried to get to the bottom of what happened with the players , and I don’t think we did.
“The players I think kept quiet about this issue out of fear and some players had good experiences so we understand some of the reasons why this happened. But it has made this issue quite difficult.
“Maybe with Eddie talking about it now, it might empower other players to want to talk about it.”
Meanwhile, Geelong Cats champion Patrick Dangerfield, who currently serves as AFLPA president, said it would have been difficult for the union to take immediate action because of the circumstances at the time.
“We’re gone from the information that was given to us at the time. And clearly, I think it’s hard to articulate that for the players who were there at the time when they’re still playing in Adelaide. So as much as we could and as we could, we got the information that was relevant,” Dangerfield said Sports day.
“If we had known all the information from the beginning, I think that there would clearly have been a more immediate reaction. But it wasn’t the case.
“I don’t necessarily agree with the fact that we haven’t done anything. I think we exhausted a lot of our resources on how we could support the players, but at the same time, you need that open, fluid communication between the two of you, and that was a challenge.”
AFLPA statement
“The details described by Eddie Betts in his new book about the 2018 Adelaide Crows training camp are extremely disturbing and difficult to read. We commend Eddie for the courage he has shown in telling this story and are concerned for the ongoing pain caused to Eddie and his family.
Much of the information detailed in Eddie’s book about the camp is new information to the AFLPA and we are very concerned about this information on three levels. Firstly, the lack of psychological safety afforded to the entire playing group, secondly, the cultural appropriation of indigenous artefacts and thirdly, the deliberate collection of confidential information about the players for the purpose of use the information in a harmful way.
As some details of the pitch began to emerge, the AFLPA spoke to a number of Adelaide players about the pitch. What we now believe is clear from our discussions with these players and from the information contained in Eddie’s book is that the players felt pressured to keep quiet about the details of the pitch.
Based on the new information that has emerged, the AFLPA will be contacting all Adelaide players from 2018 to seek a better understanding of the details of the pitch and any individual issues that may arise from it.”
AFL statement
“The AFL recognizes the harm suffered by Eddie Betts, his family, his community and by extension all Indigenous players as a result of the Adelaide Crows pre-season camp in 2018.
The AFL’s 2018 inquiry into the Adelaide Crows field concluded there were failings in the way the football club identified, implemented and managed the pre-season program, but ultimately determined there were no violation of industry standards. As a result of the investigation, the AFL made recommendations (which were adopted) on improving governance and compliance in relation to the protection of players, officials and club staff, including further investment in the area of Adelaide Crows integrity. In addition, the investigation led to the introduction of an AFL agreement approval process prior to any club pre-season camp or activity involving an external supplier.
In addition, over the past 15 months the AFL CEO has held regular discussions with a Senior Indigenous Players Group which provides a sounding board for key industry and club decisions affecting our Indigenous players . One of the most important outcomes of the regular dialogue with the group has been the introduction of mandatory Indigenous Player Development Managers at all 18 clubs to provide cultural guidance and support to…