Adelaide Crows apologise for 2018 pre-season camp in open letter

The Adelaide Crows have issued a lengthy apology amid the ongoing fallout from the club’s infamous pre-season camp in 2018.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 21: Josh Jenkins is congratulated by Eddie Betts of the Crows after kicking a goal during the round 18 AFL match between the Adelaide Crows and the Geelong Cats at Adelaide Oval on July 21, 2017 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

Adelaide Crows have penned an open letter to the club’s members, following the ongoing fallout from the club’s 2018 pre-season camp.

Three former players — Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins and Bryce Gibbs — have come forward in the last week to express their disappointment in the camp, which was held after Adelaide’s loss in the 2017 AFL Grand Final.

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Now Crows chairman John Olsen and CEO Tim Silvers have written to Adelaide’s members and fans, apologising to Betts, Jenkins, Gibbs “and any other player, coach or staff member, who had a negative experience” at the camp.

Olsen and Silvers said they are “committed to emerging from this painful and challenging period and getting better,” adding “while we cannot rewrite history, we remain determined to learn from the past”.

“We are sorry to hear Bryce Gibbs express his disappointment at the way in which the camp and events surrounding it were handled and its impact on the playing group, and we acknowledge there are others who may feel the same way,” Olsen and Silvers wrote in the letter published on Adelaide’s website.

Josh Jenkins and Eddie Betts have spoken out about the camp. (Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)

“The most important thing we can do now is listen and offer our support.

“We know that moving on as a club will be difficult. Everyone will do it in their own time and in their own way, and we sincerely hope that with the passage of time the healing process can take place.

“There has been a significant amount of change at our club over the past couple of years.

“Most notably, the key leadership positions of chairman, chief executive officer, men’s senior coach, and men’s head of football have all changed hands.”

Olsen Silvers said it had been “confronting to hear Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins describe their experiences during the 2018 pre-season training camp on the Gold Coast, as well as the subsequent hurt they have carried”.

Former Crows coach Don Pyke apologised for the camp on the weekend amid growing scrutiny of his role in it.

“To Josh and Eddie and the Adelaide players and staff who were involved, I apologise for the camp. It’s saddened me to see they’re feeling that way. I acknowledge the hurt and I’m sorry,” he said.

Bryce Gibbs also spoke out against the camp. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“I’ve been in contact with both of them, haven’t had a chance to speak to them yet but have spoken to a couple of the other guys. Clearly it’s a sad time for us all. I’ll reach out to some other guys in the next couple of days.

“Clearly we’re always reflecting, there’s a couple of components there - firstly with Eddie and Josh, the fact they feel personal information they provided was used against them, that’s disappointing and unacceptable. I’m saddened by that, sorry by that.

“Clearly we entered as I’ve said before, a space to improve from a performance viewpoint. And that space had some challenges and we got it wrong, that has to be acknowledged. Whether it was our planning, whether it was our assessment, the execution or the follow-up or the debriefing following the events of the camp, clearly it was an error and I’ve apologised to the playing group before and I apologise again.

“I respect Eddie and Josh for speaking out and saying their piece about how they felt about the camp. It’s put it on the agenda and on the table for discussion. It’s important we have the discussion to try and deal with the issues that arise from that.

“If there’s still people with ongoing issues we support them and we try and actually move on from this. It’s a challenging time for all of us but one that we’ll get through hopefully.”

Originally published as Adelaide Crows apologise for 2018 pre-season camp in open letter