The Adelaide Crows have been cleared by South Australia’s independent workplace safety regulator over a controversial pre-season training camp in 2018.
The Age last year revealed shocking allegations in relation to the camp, which saw players confronted by men carrying what looked to be automatic weapons, before being blindfolded and taken on a bus to an undisclosed location.
The players were reportedly “petrified” and “unnerved” by the experience. One of the more disturbing allegations was that players felt sensitive information that had been given to the club was shared with the facilitators of the camp.
It was also reported that players were told they needed to be “so tight that if a teammate slept with your wife it would be OK”.
“We were in such a state of confusion, it was like a trance, there were times where we would come-to two days after and say, ‘What did we just do?’,” an unnamed player said in 2020.
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“It’s hard to remember exactly what we did or what was said and we were in different groups.”
Nearly four years after the camp, the club has been given the all-clear.
“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 Crows said in a statement.
“The club fully co-operated with the confidential investigation, voluntarily providing all information and documentation sought by SafeWork SA. The matter is now closed.”
An earlier investigation by the AFL Integrity Unit found that there had been a lack of due diligence conducted by the Crows, however punishment was never handed out, leading veteran journalist Caroline Wilson to question why the Integrity Unit even existed.
Having made the 2017 grand final, it’s been all downhill for the club since the camp in the early months of 2018.
The Crows have finished 12th, 11th, 18th and 15th in the four seasons since.
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