Adelaide have been cleared of breaching any work health and safety laws during their disastrous AFL pre-season camp in 2018.
The Gold Coast mind training camp, held months after Adelaide’s’ shattering 2017 grand final loss to Richmond, was intended to build mental resilience and take the Crows forward.
Instead, it created ructions within their squad, with reports some players had been distressed and offended by what took place during the camp.
But the Crows confirmed on Tuesday a SafeWork SA investigation found they hadn’t breached any work health and safety laws.
“The South Australian Government’s independent workplace safety regulator has cleared the Adelaide Football Club of any wrongdoing in relation to its pre-season training camp in 2018,” the Crows said in a statement.
“SafeWork SA’s comprehensive investigation, which took more than a year to complete, found neither the club nor any other person or organisation breached any work health and safety laws during or in relation to the camp.
“The club fully co-operated with the confidential investigation, voluntarily providing all information and documentation sought by SafeWork SA. The matter is now closed.”
In the wake of the camp, the Crows fell away on the field, missing that year’s finals and finishing 12th.
They haven’t made the finals since – claiming the wooden spoon in 2020 and finishing 15th this season.
The fallout from the camp also led to an external review in 2019.
Then-coach Don Pyke fell on his sword at season’s end and captain Taylor Walker stepped down, while football manager Brett Burton and assistant coach Scott Camporeale were both sacked.
An AFL investigation in October 2018 previously cleared Adelaide of any rule breach surrounding the camp, but said the Crows should have shown greater care.
Valentino
Roar Rookie
All except 30ish Alex Keith are either retired or below average players or were on the way somewhere else anyway - e.g. Dangerfield, Lever. IMO the Tippett recruiting ban is/was the biggest problem. Do you think SA's reputation as a 'flat-line state' is a serious issue?
Knoxy
Guest
Why the hell would players be expected to sign NDAs for a training camp? That alone would set off alarm bells if I were a player. I'd be thinking "What the hell do they planned for us?"
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Nobody likes a Spanish Inquisition.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Spanish?
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
If inquiries take this long, not unlike the Essendon and Willie Rioli sagas, it suggests that those conducting the inquiry don't care much. There ought to be an inquiry into these inquisitions.
Willie
Roar Rookie
I actually think the consulting company involved got off very lightly. There is a wide spectrum of quality among the huge numbers of organisational culture consultants operating in this country from excellent to useless to dodgy, and most football executives haven't got a clue how to go about selecting the right partner for such an intervention. The same thing happens frequently in the corporate world as was lampooned in one of the episodes of The Office. Problem is, these 'interventions' as they are called in the HR/ OD world can go horribly wrong, especially for certain individuals.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
What a disaster it was. When pseudo science and a collection of over inflated egos driven by $$$ convince others they actually know what they are doing. https://youtu.be/zrzMhU_4m-g
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
You’re not wrong.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
And signing NDAs is tantamount to a cover-up and the opposite of coming clean. That's my over-arching, abstract concern.
Kevin
Roar Rookie
I guess thats a fair enough sanction.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
The players all signed NDAs, so we'll never really know what went down, but some of the stuff I heard was believable given the number of players that have wanted to leave since then, including Jake Kelly, Rory Atkins, Brad Crouch, Kyle Hartigan, Eddie Betts, Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Hugh Greenwood, Sam Jacobs, Josh Jenkins, Alex Keath and Mitch McGovern who were all traded on request or walked in free agency. 17 delistings and 4 retirements as well with more to come in this next month makes a total of 32 players that have left in the offseasons of 2018, 2019, 2020 and the current period. In fact, even before the infamous camp, Jake Lever and Charlie Cameron left right after the Grand Final in 2017.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Adelaide football club cleared of any wrongdoing :laughing: . The subsequent onfield results, player departures, sackings and resignations suggest that plenty was done wrong.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
And this one time at mind camp we….