Josh Jenkins says Adelaide Crows players will support those affected by controversial camp

JOSH Jenkins wants any Adelaide players adversely affected by the club’s controversial pre-season training camp to step forward so they can be offered the right support.

Adelaide players celebrate a goal during Thursday night’s big win against Richmond. Picture: Daniel Kalisz (Getty Images).

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JOSH Jenkins wants any Adelaide players adversely affected by the club’s controversial pre-season training camp to step forward so they can be offered the right support.

“We're not looking to drop the hammer on anyone but if players are upset we need to deal with it,’’ the key forward said.

“Some information has come out one way or another that guys are upset and if that is the case we need to find out who it is, talk to them and try to help them through it.

“I haven’t been privy to who might have been upset but if someone is, hopefully I can find out, step in and lend a hand.

“As a club we need to find out why they are upset and what we can do for them.’’

Josh Jenkins celebrates one of his five goals on Friday night with teammate Paul Seedsman. Picture SARAH REED

The Crows’ week-long Gold Coast camp, held two months ago, hit the headlines this week after reports emerged of some players being “bewildered and mentally distressed’’ by what they endured in a program run by performance experts Collective Mind.

It has been revealed the squad was split into small groups, with some players being blindfolded and others continuously played the Richmond theme song after last year’s humiliating, eight-goal grand final loss.

Bryce Gibbs with Don Pyke after the win. Picture: Sarah Reed

Coach Don Pyke defended the mentally-challenging camp, saying: “I’ll never be an apologist for us trying to improve’’.

“The camp was an opportunity for us to get better, there’s a competitive advantage associated with what we’re doing,’’ he said.

“The reality is, you don’t keep 100 per cent of the people happy, 100 per cent of the time.”

Jenkins said he found 95 per cent of the camp to be “fantastic’’.

“You can only really speak for yourself but I do know there’s been at least a handful of players that I am aware of who have said they benefited greatly from it,’’ he said.

“Everyone who went on the camp will have their own opinions but for me 95 per cent of what I experienced was fantastic — I took some great stuff from it.

“Five per cent I didn’t find overly relevant but I went to university and it was the same thing, that’s just life.

“But if anyone had issues with what went on we have to find out who they are and help them.

“From a team point of view it was terrific that we didn’t let all the external talk during the week distract us from going about our business and beating Richmond, which was a real positive.’’

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