Eddie Betts

AFL champion Eddie Betts has revealed explosive new details from the infamous Adelaide pre-season training camp in 2018.

“I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared. He was dropped from the club’s leadership group three weeks later. “After a meeting with all the Blackfullas at the club, I decided to address the playing group and talk about how I found the camp, mainly addressing the cultural safety implications for us brothers,” Betts revealed. “I sought permission to remove all the Aboriginal boys from any further interactions with the ‘leadership specialists’ and their mind-training exercises. “The camp ended up appropriating a First Nations peoples’ ritual of a ‘talking stick’ and attempting to apply it to all of us, even the non-Indigenous players and coaches,” Betts said. “There was all sorts of weird shit that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture.”

Eddie Betts has opened up on the notorious Adelaide Crows training camp which he claims misused personal and sensitive information.

After addressing the playing group about how unsafe and uncomfortable the camp made him feel, Betts claims he was dropped from the Crows' leadership group just three weeks later. "There was all sorts of weird shit that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture," Betts wrote in the book and published in The Age. AFL champion Eddie Betts has opened up on the notorious Adelaide Crows camp, revealing he lost passion for football after the "weird" and "disrespectful" experience.

'Piece of me was brainwashed': Betts' extraordinary tell-all on 'weird' Crows camp.

Betts said the experiences he was subjected to during the camp led to a decline in form and his eventual decision to return to Carlton before ultimately retiring at the end of last year. “In my view, the talking stick was used incorrectly, and I was not aware that any Elder had given permission for it to be used either. “The camp ended up appropriating a First Nations peoples’ ritual of a ‘talking stick’ and attempting to apply it to all of us, even the non-Indigenous players and coaches,” he wrote.

AFL great Eddie Betts has revealed just how damaging the Adelaide Crows training camp held in 2018 was.

The camp had a major impact on Betts’ on-field form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. Three weeks later he was dropped from the leadership group. “In my view, the talking stick was used incorrectly, and I was not aware that any Elder had given permission for it to be used either.

The Crows undertook a pre-season leadership camp in 2018 in the wake of their Grand Final defeat by Richmond, and the events of that trip led to the ...

He also confirmed reports stating that the Richmond theme song was repeatedly played throughout the camp to be true. 'There was all sorts of weird shit that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture.' The Crows undertook a pre-season leadership camp in 2018 in the wake of their Grand Final defeat by Richmond, and events on that trip led to the departure of a number of players and officials from the club.

'Destroyed the joint': AFL greats stunned by Betts' explosive reveal amid ugly 'betrayal' accusations.

Kane Cornes believes the saddest element of the Eddie Betts/Adelaide camp saga is how an icon of the club has been left feeling. Betts provided a firsthand ...

Go back and read the tweets from the Crows fans at the time when The Age first apologised – how are they going to deal with that? “That’s the echelon that Eddie Betts is held in. Details have come out, Eddie Betts was abused about his mother,” Cornes said.

Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto says he hopes former Crows star Eddie Betts “is moving on” from the effects of the club's controversial 2018 pre-season ...

Senior players Rory Sloane and Taylor Walker have said in the past that they had a good experience at the camp. Hopefully, Eddie is moving on as well and the club can move on to bigger and better things,” Ricciuto said. Ricciuto, a Crows champion and premiership player, said on Triple M Adelaide on Wednesday morning that the club had already admitted the camp was not executed perfectly despite the good intentions of those planning it.

ADELAIDE is "moving on" from the club's infamous pre-season camp despite fresh revelations from former superstar Eddie Betts, Crows football director Mark Ricciuto says. Betts has opened up on the 2018 camp and the lasting effect it has on him in his ...

Betts played for the Crows until the end of 2019, before requesting a trade back to his original club, Carlton. He added another 36 games for the Blues, before retiring at the end of 2021 following 350 AFL matches. "There was all sorts of weird s**t that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture," Betts wrote in his book, The Boy from Boomerang Crescent.

Eddie Betts has opened up on the notorious Adelaide Crows camp, revealing he lost passion for football after the "weird" and "disrespectful" experience.

“There was all sorts of weird sh-t that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture,” Betts wrote in the book and published in The Age. pic.twitter.com/wgEblsRzfe Can’t wait to see it on shelves soon.

The AFL community has reacted with disgust after former Adelaide footballer Eddie Betts published a confronting recollection of his experience at a ...

And to see Eddie Betts relay that that was actually rehearsed, it doesn’t paint Rory and his leadership in great light. “That’s the echelon that Eddie Betts is held in. As a group, Eddie Betts and his Adelaide teammates experienced the real tragedy of losing their coach. When you get the (Rory) Sloanes and the (Taylor) Walkers, who have their recollection, and then you’ve got Eddie and others I would imagine … no wonder it destroyed that joint. We talk about the atmosphere and environment … take apart who you agree with and you don’t agree with, the fact of the matter is it split the club down the middle. Betts said the camp had a major impact on his form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. Details have come out, Eddie Betts was abused about his mother,” Cornes said. It’s very sad that Eddie’s written that, and I think the club’s been on record at times to say that they’ve acknowledged that it wasn’t handled perfectly. “We all love Eddie, and hopefully Eddie’s getting over that. Particularly the insensitivities around Eddie’s past. Betts’ revelations have angered the footy community. “Player welfare is always number one, no matter what’s going on.

Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers has publicly and privately apologised to Eddie Betts for the trauma the AFL great suffered during the Crows' ill-fated ...

Please click below to help InDaily continue to uncover the facts. “That was four years ago, certainly the club has moved on from that and looking towards the future and have made a lot of ground since then.” “It’s sad to hear Eddie write that because he’s been one of the greats of the football club,” Ricciuto said. “There was all sorts of weird s**t that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture,” Betts wrote in his book, The Boy from Boomerang Crescent. An Indigenous icon and one of the AFL’s greatest small forwards, Betts claims the experience on the Gold Coast following the Crows’ shock 2017 grand-final loss was “weird” and “disrespectful”. “We’ve got a leadership and a culture (now) that we’re driving that prioritises others and I think we can move forward, but we would like to say ‘Sorry’ to Eddie and anyone else who had a negative experience throughout the camp,” Silvers said.

Former Adelaide fan favourite Eddie Betts has lifted the lid on the Crows' now infamous pre-season camp which took place in the wake of the club's 2017 AFL ...

“I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared. “After a meeting with all the Blackfullas at the club, I decided to address the playing group and talk about how I found the camp, mainly addressing the cultural safety implications for us brothers,” Betts revealed. “In my view, the talking stick was used incorrectly, and I was not aware that any Elder had given permission for it to be used either.

Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers has publicly and privately apologised to Eddie Betts for the trauma the AFL great suffered during the Crows' ill-fated ...

“I’m not sure if there’s anyone who’s thrilled the crowd more than Eddie Betts. I felt like I’d lost the drive to play footy, and to be honest, I’m not sure I ever had the same energy I did before that camp.” I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared.

'Shameful, hideous, manipulative' Crows camp slammed as club great makes 'sad' Betts admission.

He was courageous enough to represent the concerns of some players to the administration – and he was stripped of his authority as a result. It stands undisputed today and it stands as the source of great shame to many who have, for so long, been eager to avoid responsibility.” Schooling players on what they should and shouldn’t say to their partners, that’s the worst sort of manipulation. “And Betts believes he was dropped from the Crows’ leadership group for daring to lead. “This morning, it stands as an indisputable first-hand account of what transpired in the summer of 2018. The betrayal of trust, soliciting private information under false pretence to then use against players – that’s hideous.

Former AFL champion Eddie Betts has accused those behind an Adelaide Crows preseason training camp of cultural insensitivities, prompting the AFL Players' ...

The club "mutually agreed to part ways" with the company in June. I was devastated," he wrote. Silvers acknowledged the camp "probably wasn't the right move at that time" and apologised to Betts and "any of our playing group who had a negative experience". Betts, who moved to Carlton in 2020, wrote of the continuing toll the camp took, saying his "on-field form slumped" at the start of the following season and describing 2018 as "tough". Silvers said he was "saddened" to read the impact the camp had had on Betts. "The details outlined by Eddie Betts in his new book about the 2018 Adelaide Crows training camp are extremely concerning and difficult to read," he said.

'We're sorry': Crows boss reveals texts to Betts after shock camp claims.

We’ve got a leadership and a culture that we’re driving around prioritising others, and I think we can move forward but we’d like to say sorry, to Eddie and anyone else that had a negative experience throughout the camp,” Silvers said. Eddie, Anna and the family have been an integral part of the club so what I read, I was actually sad to read,” Silvers said in a press conference on Wednesday. “SafeWork SA conducted a thorough investigation into the Adelaide Crows 2018 pre-season camp. I think we need to play a leadership close. My plan is to speak to him and Anna more formally, towards the end of the week.” Betts says at one point, he was put into a body harness with a rope attached and told to fight his way towards a knife to cut himself free, while camp instructors peppered him with verbal abuse.

Adelaide football director Mark Ricciuto says the club loves Eddie Betts and hopes he is 'getting over' his experience at a 2018 pre-season camp.

"We are extremely concerned about this (new) information on three levels. "On the back of 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 camp and any individual issues that may have arisen from it," Marsh said. "The AFL investigation in 2018 into the Adelaide Crows camp concluded there were failings in the manner in which the football club identified, implemented and managed the pre-season program," the AFL said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon. An AFL investigation in October 2018 concluded there were failings in which Adelaide implemented and managed the pre-season program, but that there was no violation of industry rules. "I felt like I'd lost the drive to play footy, and to be honest, I'm not sure I ever had the same energy I did before that camp." In a statement on Wednesday evening, CEO Paul Marsh said the AFLPA would contact players to "seek a better understanding of the details of the camp and any individual issues that may have arisen from it".

'Game has betrayed' Betts after 'disturbing and distressing' camp details: Robbo.

“I found it disturbing and distressing. “I think what Eddie Betts has done today will be marked in the history of this game and I think the game has betrayed our Indigenous group and an Indigenous player one more time. “I have found myself battling the waves of anger and worrying that not for the first time Eddie Betts might feel quite alone in all this.”

The fallout to Eddie Betts' damning revelations from the infamous Adelaide Crows training camp continues with a new investigation set to be launched.

Much of the information detailed in Eddie’s book about the camp is new information to the AFLPA and we are extremely concerned about this information on three levels. As a result of the investigation, the AFL made recommendations (which were adopted), on improved governance and compliance in relation to the protection of the players, officials and staff at the Club, including further investment into the Adelaide Crows’ integrity area. Further, the investigation led to the introduction of an agreed AFL approval process ahead of any club pre-season camp or activity that involves an external provider. Additionally, over the last 15 months the AFL CEO has had regular conversations with a senior Indigenous players group which provides a sounding board for key industry and club decisions impacting our Indigenous players. What we now believe is clear from our discussions with those players and the information contained in Eddie’s book is that players felt pressured into remaining silent about the details of the camp. The details outlined by Eddie Betts in his new book about the 2018 Adelaide Crows training camp are extremely concerning and difficult to read.

Eddie Betts has shared his personal account of the Adelaide Crows' infamous 2018 pre-season camp, leaving the AFL world horrified. Read more here.

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Adelaide CEO Tim Silvers has publicly and privately apologised to Eddie Betts after the champion revealed his distress after the 2018 pre-season camp.

"We are extremely concerned about this (new) information on three levels. "On the back of 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 camp and any individual issues that may have arisen from it," Marsh said. "The AFL investigation in 2018 into the Adelaide Crows camp concluded there were failings in the manner in which the football club identified, implemented and managed the pre-season program," the AFL said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon. An AFL investigation in October 2018 concluded there were failings in which Adelaide implemented and managed the pre-season program, but that there was no violation of industry rules. "I felt like I'd lost the drive to play footy, and to be honest, I'm not sure I ever had the same energy I did before that camp." In a statement on Wednesday evening, CEO Paul Marsh said the AFLPA would contact players to "seek a better understanding of the details of the camp and any individual issues that may have arisen from it".

The AFL acknowledges the hurt Eddie Betts, his family, his community, and by extension all Indigenous players experienced as a result of Adelaide's ...

Additionally, over the last 15 months the AFL CEO has had regular conversations with a senior Indigenous players group which provides a sounding board for key industry and club decisions impacting our Indigenous players. As a result of the investigation, the AFL made recommendations (which were adopted), on improved governance and compliance in relation to the protection of the players, officials and staff at the Club, including further investment into the Adelaide Crows' integrity area. The AFL investigation in 2018 into the Adelaide Crows camp concluded there were failings in the manner in which the football club identified, implemented and managed the pre-season program however it was ultimately determined there was no violation of industry rules.

'How can they say this?': Betts' bombshell exposes elephant in room with Crows camp.

The league conducted its own investigation that year that saw it make recommendations on improved governance and compliance, but concluded there was “no violation of industry rules”. “Where the hell are the AFLPA on this? “I went to Taylor Walker’s house in March 2018 and we talked about the camp. All they had to do was pick up the phone and have a private conversation. Speaking on 3AW’s Sportsday on Wednesday night, Dangerfield – who was only appointed AFLPA president in March 2018, around one month after the camp took place – said it was “sickening” and “really concerning” to read what Betts endured. Former Dockers and Saints coach Ross Lyon added: “I am shocked by the AFLPA, Paul Marsh in particular, saying that is new information. But we certainly tried to get to the bottom of what happened with players – and I don’t feel as though we did. “I don‘t necessarily agree with the fact that we didn’t do anything. “I could see that we were all hurting and we tried to make change at that point. The AFLPA on Wednesday night indicated it would effectively reopen its investigation into the pre-season event and contact all players involved to seek a “better understanding” of what occurred during the trip. “We‘ve gone off the information we were given at the time. Betts became the first Crows player, past or present, to publicly detail a first-hand account of what went down at the Gold Coast-based camp in 2018.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has joined the chorus calling for the AFL to apologise to Eddie Betts over their handling of Adelaide's 2018 pre-season camp.

The AFL Players Association were left shocked by the new revelations, and have decided to reopen an investigation. "It did hurt at first when nothing was done. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin, who played 275 games for the Crows, believes the AFL should apologise to Betts and the other Adelaide players who were at the camp. "The easiest thing would be for the AFL to come out and to apologise to all of us players." Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers publicly and privately apologised to Betts on Wednesday for the trauma the AFL great suffered during the infamous training camp on the Gold Coast. Calls continue to grow for the AFL to apologise to Eddie Betts and his former Adelaide teammates over the league's bumbled investigation into the Crows' ill-fated 2018 pre-season camp.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has joined the chorus calling for the AFL to apologise to Eddie Betts over their handling of Adelaide's 2018 pre-season camp.

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The former player's autobiography details his experience of Adelaide's 2018 camp and reveals a man who found his voice in the face of adversity.

It was the complete antithesis of what Richmond, West Coast and Collingwood were doing during that period. At one point one of the men was screaming at Betts, telling him what a shit father he was because he’d been raised by his mother. Eddie Betts may never get over “that”. But there’s not a skerrick of bitterness or resentment in him, or in his book. Aboriginal people have lit Olympic flames, captained Australian rugby teams, won world title fights and triumphed at Wimbledon. Eddie Betts never won a flag, never won a Brownlow, and never won a best and fairest. Later that season, the two directors who had facilitated the camp conducted a press conference at the MCG. “We now consider the matter closed,” one of them said. It was straight from the sandpit. Every time there’s one of these incidents, we get a sense of their fury, their exhaustion. His first opponent was Glenn Archer, one of the toughest footballers to play the game. The camp, however, was no laughing matter. His first goal of the year award netted him a Toyota Aurion. Shortly after, he was pulled over by two police officers, demanding to know whose car he was driving. “It was a reality for us,” he writes in his autobiography, which was released this week. Few footballers could kick a 50-metre reverse torpedo goal, on their wrong foot, from about six rows back, and explain it with a straight face – “I just make stuff up.”

Calls continue to grow for the AFL to apologise to Eddie Betts and his former Adelaide teammates over the league's bumbled investigation into the Crows' ill-fated 2018 pre-season camp. Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers publicly and privately ...

Betts revealed the players were "brainwashed" at the camp and were told to stay silent. "It did hurt at first when nothing was done. "I'm not saying that everything that could have been done was done, but I think we certainly tried to get to the bottom of what happened with the players and I don't feel as though we did." "The easiest thing would be for the AFL to come out and to apologise to all of us players." Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin, who played 275 games for the Crows, believes the AFL should apologise to Betts and the other Adelaide players who were at the camp. "I told them everything," Betts told AFL 360 of the AFL's original investigation.

Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers publicly and privately apologised to Betts on Wednesday for the trauma the AFL great suffered during the infamous training ...

"It did hurt at first when nothing was done. Betts revealed the players were "brainwashed" at the camp and were told to stay silent. Geelong star and AFLPA president Patrick Dangerfield said it was "sickening" what Betts was forced to endure during the camp. "I'm not saying that everything that could have been done was done, but I think we certainly tried to get to the bottom of what happened with the players and I don't feel as though we did." "The easiest thing would be for the AFL to come out and to apologise to all of us players." The AFL released a statement on Wednesday acknowledging the "hurt Eddie Betts, his family, his community, and by extension all Indigenous players experienced on the camp".

Eddie Betts this week became the first Crows player, past or present, to lift the lid on the infamous Adelaide 2018 pre-season camp — and he mightn't be the ...

Betts writes: “I felt like I‘d lost the drive to play footy, and to be honest, I’m not sure I ever had the same energy I did before that camp.” Late January-early February 2018: Crows players travel to the Gold Coast for a camp to focus on strengthening the “resilience” and “connection” of the team. He confirms the Richmond theme song was played repeatedly during a training session, while at one stage he was put into a body harness with a rope attached and told to fight his way towards a knife to cut himself free, while camp instructors peppered him with verbal abuse. A company statement reads: “Despite the clarity that was created back in 2018, there have been ongoing rumours, mistruths and speculation that is not only incorrect, but damaging to our reputation.” Collective Mind directors also conduct a Q&A with The Advertiser addressing reports. Obviously a lot of details we weren’t allowed to know going into the camp, we all had to sign waivers just to say we can’t speak about it after.” Woulfe says: “We feel that the camp was great … we delivered on the brief that was given to us by the Crows. If there was anything that happened on the camp that was not OK, the club would have addressed it straight away back in February. If half of what has been said and speculated about was true, we would have been fired in an instant.” He’s come out and he’s blamed the camp for one of the reasons why he left the Adelaide Crows … Don’t blame the camp. Some of the intel I’ve received about the camp, he was probably one of one a few players who engaged and loved the camp – he actually really enjoyed those four days. Ellis-Yolmen says he “wasn’t a fan of the way” the camp was run. A suggested response, Betts claimed, was: “I feel like a better father and husband, having come from this camp.” That statement used by some senior Crows players to describe the camp in the media months later. He wrote: “The camp ended up appropriating a First Nations peoples’ ritual of a ‘talking stick’ and attempting to apply it to all of us, even the non-Indigenous players and coaches. Rory Sloane also tells Adelaide radio: “I absolutely 100 per cent came back from that camp feeling like a better husband, a better son and a much better teammate than when I was before I left on that camp.”