Adelaide key ahead Taylor Walker insists he loved the Crows’ infamous 2018 camp, despite a string of gamers revealing harrowing experiences from the Gold Coast coaching journey.
However Walker, who was captain on the time, admits it was tough to listen to former teammates together with Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins share they have been nonetheless feeling damaging results from the expertise.
Watch AFL CEO’s apology to Betts within the video above
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Among the revelations from the previous gamers embrace Indigenous tradition being disrespected, confidential info being shared to others and people with traumatic childhood experiences being preyed upon.
Walker, who in 2018 described the camp as “one of the most beneficial and rewarding camps I’ve ever been” and stated he’d encourage members of the family to participate in it, admitted it wasn’t straightforward to listen to others hadn’t loved it.
“As the captain at the time of the footy club and those boys being past players, (it’s) not great,” he instructed Triple M.
“It’s quite upsetting to hear those guys are still feeling the effects of the camp.
“What I will say is the camp, a lot of people took different things out of it and I personally I’ve said I took a positive experience out of it, but that does not take away from the the feelings of hurt that those boys are going through at the moment.”
Requested if he felt he had completed what he might on the time to assist his gamers, Walker stated he had.
“I can put my head on the pillow at night and put my hand on my heart and say I did everything I could,” he stated.
“I knew something was not right post the camp, I knew blokes weren’t feeling that great about it.
“There were fractures within the group, like some of the boys have said and I was having one-on-one meetings.
“I was having some confidential meetings at my house to try and work out exactly the path to take and I can honestly say that I did everything I could to try and fix it.”
Crows hierarchy apology in open letter
Adelaide executives have issued a recent apology to all gamers who had a damaging expertise at their notorious 2018 AFL pre-season camp on the Gold Coast.
Chairman John Olsen and chief government Tim Silvers admitted in an open letter to the membership’s members that they have been “confronted” by the accounts of Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins of the pre-season camp.
They apologised to the 2 gamers and anybody else who shared a comparable expertise.
“We aspire to have everyone – players, coaches and staff – reflect on their time at the Crows in a positive manner and we are saddened that this has not been the case for everyone,” they wrote.
“It has 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.
“Equally 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.”
Amongst a collection of harrowing experiences shared in his newly launched autobiography, Betts revealed his Indigenous tradition was disrespected on the camp and delicate info he disclosed to counsellors had been shared.
Jenkins, who later backed up Betts’ accounts, stated camp leaders had preyed on gamers with traumatic upbringings, and labelled the camp “disgraceful”
And Gibbs, who admitted he hadn’t suffered as badly as Betts or Jenkins, later stated his private info revealed to camp leaders had been used towards him.
The Adelaide open letter notes “significant” change on the membership over the previous few years together with a new chairman, chief government, coach and head of soccer.
However that follows soccer director Mark Ricciuto, who was stays in that position after being in energy on the time of the camp, encouraging Betts to “get over” his expertise because the membership had “moved on”.
The open letter contradicted Ricciuto’s declare the membership had left the camp prior to now.
“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,” it reads.
“In recent times there has also been a cultural shift and the focus is firmly on prioritising others.
“We are committed to emerging from this painful and challenging period and getting better. While we cannot rewrite history, we remain determined to learn from the past.”
