Q&A: Fact or fiction? Collective Mind directors answer every rumour and allegation about controversial 2018 Crows camp
Off the back of their exclusive interview with Graham Cornes, Collective Mind directors Amon Woulfe and Derek Leddie address all the major claims and rumours surrounding the controversial 2018 pre-season Adelaide Crows camp. READ THE Q&A.
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There was no talk of wife-swapping, no one was tied to trees, and happy players thanked facilitators after the Adelaide Crows infamous pre-season camp of 2018.
These are among revelations from Collective Mind directors Amon Woulfe and Derek Leddie in a series of articles with inaugural Adelaide Crows coach Graham Cornes.
Rumours and innuendo have dogged the Crows and Collective Mind, who co-ordinated the Gold Coast camp, since early in the 2018 season.
Mr Woulfe and Mr Leddie on Friday revealed they had not made a cent from the camp, that they had launched legal action against two Melbourne journalists and media groups, and said they maintained a positive relationship with the Crows.
In today’s Q and A, Collective Mind directors address some of the specific allegations raised in the media during the past two and a half years.
Were players on the camp told they needed to be “so tight that if a teammate slept with your wife it would be OK?
Woulfe and Leddie: Absolutely not, this never happened
Did players arrive in the woods and sleep in teepees with no showers and no phones?
W & L: The camp was held at a professional four-star TripAdvisor retreat 45 minutes from the Gold Coast.
They were housed in modern cabins with normal beds, toilets and showers. There were no teepees.
The menu was designed by the club nutritionist.
Yes they did surrender their phones, which is common place at conferences and camps, but they could ring home every evening and all families had emergency contact details.
Were players coerced into divulging their fears and weaknesses?
W & L: All conversations were facilitated by qualified counsellors. They were not coerced into divulging their fears and weaknesses.
They spoke voluntarily of their immature masculine behaviours that hold back their performance. Everything they shared was voluntarily.
Were you given personal information of episodes of childhood trauma, relationships with partners and incidents of domestic abuse by the club that players didn’t think would be shared as forms of abuse?
W & L: Absolutely not. This never happened. We had coached the players in the 2017 season and knew where they needed to develop from a performance perspective.
No information on players and coaches’ personal mental health background, personal relationships, or family or childhood trauma were ever given to us by the club or anyone else.
Were players taken deep into the woods, tied to a tree, harnessed to a contraption and forced to crawl on hands and knees to a combat knife as facilitators encouraged players to hurl abuse at each other?
W & L: No one was tied to a tree or tied up, period. No one was naked. There were no woods.
This activity was run in an open field in view of passing locals. The activity was for the Group 1 Leadership Group and is part of a 25-year body of work built around men’s rites of passage rituals creating healthy masculinity.
The players put on an abseiling harness and were attached to a rope for a tug of war exercise against 11 of their teammates.
They were asked to choose two players who they felt represented healthy masculine traits that they wanted more of.
The first half of the process was a challenge where they are confronted with their immature traits (selfishness, integrity, discipline, respect).
Players and coaches were allowed to say what they really needed to say to each other and clear any unresolved issues with each other.
This was shared voluntarily and did not include abuse. Once participants come to a place where they chose to accept and let go of their immature traits, they then start pulling towards the two chosen teammates with the mature traits they aspire to, with the full support of everyone.
A blunt knife was used to symbolically cut themselves free at the end of the exercise. They were then celebrated and honoured by each of their teammates and coaches.
Did Tom Lynch faint during an exercise, and as teammates raced to his aid demanding medical attention told by one of the camp leaders to “get up” and return to the exercise claiming it was just dizziness?
W & L: This did not occur. Tom was unwell at the hotel with what the doctor thought was gastro.
We tried to dissuade him from attending the camp because of his condition but he insisted strongly that he was good to go.
Club officials and the team doctor monitored his health the whole time and he did have to sit down at one time after trying to show he could push through.
He was constantly under close medical supervision and by day three when his condition hadn’t improved it was decided that the club doctor should collect him and take him to his hotel.
Were players absolutely petrified, greeted at the bus by men in army fatigues carrying what looked like automatic weapons, blindfolded and forced to listen to the Richmond club song on repeat?
W & L: Each player was escorted to the bus where they were met by former ADF personnel to facilitate that part of the process.
They were not carrying any simulated weapons.
Players were asked to voluntarily put on a blindfold and were given a sandwich and a bottle of water for the 45-minute bus trip.
The goal of the bus trip was to create distraction through humour, loud music and not knowing.
The Richmond theme song was not played on the bus or on repeat. It was sung once in Spanish (not in its entirety) as part of a 30-minute comedy routine.
Players at the end of the camp described it as the funniest bus trip they’d ever been on.
Were players surrounded by facilitators dressed in army fatigues carrying fake weapons?
W & L: There were three ex-ADF personnel in attendance who now run leadership programs. They wore army fatigues and occasionally carried wooden weapons when running their leadership programs, adding to the authenticity and experiential nature of it.
Their role was providing insight, wisdom and experience of what it is to perform under pressure in high-consequence environments (Afghanistan, East Timor). They facilitated the younger playing group who all spoke of how much they respected learning from these men
Were Indigenous players disappointed with several culturally offensive elements of the camp?
W & L: We put extensive effort into ensuring the camp was culturally honouring and inclusive for the Indigenous players.
We sought a local Bundjalung elder to be on site to perform a traditional Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony.
He also sat in a number of sharing circles with the players and coaches.
A traditional talking stick was used in all sharing circles to honour the traditional Indigenous connection to the country. We discovered subsequently that the talking stick came from the same country as one of the players and he was unsure whether this was an appropriate use of the artefact.
We understand that this was satisfactorily clarified by the player and appropriate Indigenous elders with 72 hours of the camp ending.
The final day was deeply emotional for many players. When they met in the common area many broke down and cried as they waited for the bus to go home?
W & L: Not one single player broke down or openly wept. Some people were moved in a positive way by what was being shared.
Players sang the team song at the end and were seen laughing, joking and thanking facilitators. They handed over signed footballs and jumpers as thank you gifts.