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Izak Rankine trade news, rumours, whispers, Gold Coast Suns, Adelaide Crows, how a deal could work, analysis, latest

Izak Rankine trade news, rumours, whispers, Gold Coast Suns, Adelaide Crows, how a deal could work, analysis, latest

It shapes as one of the biggest, most complex deals of the trade period. But unfortunately for the Gold Coast Suns, it involves another one of their budding stars departing.

Foxfooty.com.au confirmed a report from the Herald Sun that Suns young gun Izak Rankine has been offered a five-year, $4 million deal from the Adelaide Crows as he considers a move back to South Australia.

Originally thought to be close to re-signing with Gold Coast, who are reportedly offering around a $650,000-a-season deal and won’t match Adelaide’s offer, the report states the 22-year old is highly likely to be playing at West Lakes in 2023 given the size of the offer.

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However as Rankine isn’t a free agent, he’d need to be acquired via trade, setting the stage for one of the most fascinating negotiations between the Suns and Crows in some time.

Pick No. 3 in the 2018 draft, Rankine showed promising signs early in his career before really elevating his game in 2022 into the competition’s elite bracket.

Rankine has booted a career-best 27 goals from 16 games this season while averaging 13.6 disposals per game (both ranked above average as a general forward by Champion Data), and his 1.5 goal assists ranks fifth in the league (ranked elite).

What’s more, his 2.9 forward 50 ball gets rank first in the competition and his 10.6 AFL Player Rating ranks ninth (both elite). His 6.4 score involvements per game (elite) come in fifth in the league including three games in 2022 with 11 score involvements.

And from Rounds 8-15 Rankine was the No. 1 ranked overall forward in the competition during a stretch where he ranked second in score assists.

“They signed probably six of their top eight players over the last six months and you just expected Izak will sign … then this comes in as a bit of a wildcard, so incredibly tough for the Gold Coast,” Roos legend David King said on SEN.

“Rankine is going to be a top liner. The ball’s not even kicked to him and his ability to hit the scoreboard is second to none.

What would Rankine cost in a trade? (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

A potential future face of the Suns and just 46 games into his AFL career, Rankine’s upside is scary, and he’s clearly only going to keep getting better, thus complicating his trade value given he’s not yet the final product.

So what’s he worth in a deal right now and how might it look?

Adelaide currently holds Pick 4 in the draft — a pick that could yet get moved back also pending on where potential Pick 1 and father-son draftee Will Ashcroft lands.

You’d think Adelaide’s first pick would be the starting point to any trade, but surely the Suns would want more.

A second first-round pick from the Crows feels like overs, especially considering it’d likely again be a top five selection or thereabouts. Would the Suns accept a first and second rounder?

Looking at recent history, the Adam Cerra trade from last year is a fair comparison given he was also aged 22, an early draft pick (No. 5) and still coming into his prime but didn’t yet qualify for free agency.

The Dockers ultimately received Carlton’s Pick 6 as well as a future third rounder despite originally putting a bigger price on Cerra’s head — although Fremantle had other deals to get done including acquiring Jordan Clark.

Prior to that, Jaeger O’Meara moved from the Suns to Hawthorn at the end of 2016 when he was also aged 22 and rated as one of the best young talents in the game.

O’Meara while playing for the Suns (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS

O’Meara, who joined Gold Coast with the No. 1 pick of a special ‘mini draft’ as part of its early concessions, only cost the Hawks Pick 10 and a future second rounder.

Then there was the original Adam Treloar (who was also 22) trade back in 2015 that saw the star midfielder along with Pick 28 move from GWS to Collingwood for Picks 7, 65 and a future first rounder.

Similar to O’Meara, Treloar was drafted by the Giants as an under-age selection.

But making Rankine’s situation slightly more unique is that he was a bona fide top three pick (and taken ahead of the likes of the King brothers, Connor Rozee and Bailey Smith in the highly-rated 2018 draft), and factoring in that the Suns have already lost so much young talent over the years to add a potential extra tax of sorts.

And losing too many young stars to rival clubs has seen Gold Coast already top up with a stack of early picks in recent years.

It held selections 5 (Mac Andrew) and 7 (Elijah Hollands) respectively over the last two drafts, 1 and 2 in the 2019 draft (Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson) and 2 and 3 the year prior (Jack Lukosius and Rankine).

So would the Suns really want or need more picks? Finals should be firmly on the agenda next year after the club has finally made inroads in 2022, currently sitting 11th on the ladder with nine wins and on track for its best ever season.

Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes wasn’t yet convinced Rankine is going to be a “top liner,” but emphasized the Crows would have to give up something given he’s not a free agent — proposing a swap for Riley Thilthorpe or a package of Josh Rachele and Darcy Fogarty if draft picks don’t appease the Suns.

Is Buddy going back to Brisbane? | 00:33

“Adelaide would hope that (Pick 4) gets it done, but Rankine was a Pick 3 four years ago and is probably better than what you’re going to take a put on with Pick 4 in this year’s draft, which probably goes to ( Pick) 5 or 6, so that won’t get it done,” he said on SEN.

“They (the Suns) don’t want or need draft picks… is it Rachele and Fogarty or something like that for Rankine?

Of course, the Crows could dig their heels in if they can’t meet Gold Coast’s demands and try and walk Rankine to the pre-season draft (and hope other clubs don’t pounce on him).

This happened most recently in 2019 when Jack Martin joined Carlton via the pre-season draft after the Blues and Suns failed to reach a deal during the trade period.

King believes the Suns should take a stand and be willing to let Rankine walk for nothing if it comes to it.

“I just wonder if they would say, ‘you know what, we’re not going to do this deal, we’re going to take a stand. We’ve got enough first-round picks, future picks coming in, trade commodities to be able to shift if we want to go down that path. Let’s dig our heels in and say if you want to leave you can go to the draft’,” he said.

“Why not? Does it really rock their boat (losing him for nothing)? Do they say, ‘do we just draw a line in the sand?’ Because this is going to continue to happen if they allow it to happen.

“I think they’ll take a stance. I don’t think they’ll say, ‘oh yeah, no worries, what do you (Adelaide) want to discard? You don’t think Rachele is going to be a top-liner? OK, give us Rachele.’ That’s of no value to them.”

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North Melbourne all bid for Alastair Clarkson, meeting, Eddie McGuire report, future, GWS Giants, coaching great, latest

North Melbourne has gone “all in” on trying to sign Alastair Clarkson as their next senior coach, according to former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire.

Clarkson is currently being courted by both North and Greater Western Sydney, but McGuire believes the Kangaroos are “a real chance” of landing the four-time premiership coach.

North parted ways with former coach David Noble a month ago after just 38 games in charge and Leigh Adams has been caretaker in Noble’s stead.

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“Alastair Clarkson has met with Sonja Hood, the president of the North Melbourne Football Club,” McGuire told Channel 9.

Clarkson’s manager James Henderson told McGuire that the meeting went “very well” and that it was “a worthwhile experience”.

The former Hawthorn coach plans to meet with the Kangaroos again, as well as the Giants, in the coming fortnight.

“North Melbourne have gone all in on Alastair Clarkson, there is no Plan B at the moment,” McGuire said.

“If he doesn’t go (to North) they’ll come up with a Plan B, but they’ve shown that they want him.”

McGuire believes that Clarkson is now seriously contemplating coaching again next year, rather than waiting until 2024 to re-enter the fray.

The Roos are going hard at Clarkson (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

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“His management have said, ‘You know you don’t have to coach next year?’ And I think he’s thought, ‘You know what? I’m a coach, so I’m going to coach’, and North are now a real chance I reckon to maybe land this bloke,” McGuire said.

“But he wants to bring his own team, and I think he’s put his team together and part of his thinking might well be do they all want to live in GWS? Or can we do this at North Melbourne?

“There’s a bit going on in this story but there’s no doubt the list at GWS attracts Alastair Clarkson, but the romance and maybe the practicalities mean that he could well be the coach of North Melbourne.”

North have not interviewed anyone else for their vacant coaching job, according to McGuire.

“Until he says, ‘No,’ Clarkson’s the man,” McGuire said.

Former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon liked the Kangaroos’ “singular focus” in their approach.

“They really need to go all in, it’s a really good sign,” Lyon said.

“If he can bring his key people… those real pillars of success around him, he knows what needs to be done, he knows who to bring.

“It’s a super plan and I think he gets time there. No one expected them to make the eight, they’ve got green shoots, they’ve got a young midfield.

“He’ll build a great environment.”

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Caroline Wilson slams AFL, Mark Ricciuto over Eddie Betts camp revelations

Caroline Wilson slams AFL, Mark Ricciuto over Eddie Betts camp revelations

The AFL has been shamed for its lackluster response to Eddie Betts’ damning revelations about the infamous Adelaide Crows 2018 pre-season training camp, which has been branded a “miserable failure”.

Betts thrust the controversial camp — which followed Adelaide’s 2017 grand final loss to Richmond — back into the spotlight on Tuesday night, detailing behind-the-scenes information on it in his upcoming autobiography The Boy from Boomerang Crescent.

The three-time All-Australian alleged confidential information shared in counseling sessions had been misused, writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.

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Following the ordeal, Betts said he approached the Crows and voiced his concerns with the camp, only to be dropped from the leadership group three weeks later.

Six players requested a trade out of Adelaide between 2018 and 2020, while an additional four free agents left the club following the camp.

Speaking to Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Wednesday, Betts claimed those running the camp told them not to say “anything to anybody”.

“We weren’t even allowed to tell teammates. To this day, our teammates still don’t even know what we did in our group … that’s how we feel very divided and the club kind of broke down from that point,” he explained.

“I could see that we were all hurting and we tried to make change at that point. But it felt like you couldn’t speak up and it felt like you couldn’t tell all.”

Initial investigations into the damning camp received the all-clear from the AFL’s integrity unit and SafeWork SA.

The AFL Players Association will now open a fresh investigation into the camp, set to contact all Adelaide players to seek a “better understanding” of what occurred during the trip. However, the AFL and SafeWork SA confirmed on Wednesday they would not re-open investigations into the camp.

Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers apologized to Betts in a press conference on Wednesday.

“Anyone who leaves our club that doesn’t have a positive experience, we’re sorry,” he told reporters.

“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.”

Speaking on Channel 9’s Footy Classifiedveteran reporter Caroline Wilson criticized the AFL and WorkSafe SA for not taking substantial action after their initial investigation.

“It required discipline and a punishment,” she said on Wednesday night.

“The AFL is saying to me today they broke no rules. What about bringing the game into disrepute, or conduct unbecoming?

“Surely what we’ve heard from Eddie Betts is bringing the game into disrepute?

“How could they not take action? I know they put measures in place, but that wasn’t good enough for me.

“They knew all of this and they did nothing.”

Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto, who represented the club for 15 seasons, has also copped backlash for his response to Betts’ damning allegations on Wednesday morning.

“Player welfare is always number one, no matter what’s going on,” he told Adelaide’s Triple M Breakfast with Roo, Ditts and Loz.

“You always want everyone to be happy and all that. 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.

“It had all good intentions, but it didn’t go perfectly. They’ve acknowledged that.”

Wilson blasted those comments on Footy Classified: “It’s obviously devastating, what Mark Ricciuto says is so inaccurate.

“(They say) ‘we’ve moved on from this as a club’, they’ve never moved from it. The AFL will tell you that’s part of the problem.

“How can you describe some of those revelations as not perfect? They’re horrifying.”

Meanwhile, SEN broadcaster Gerard Whateley called the AFL’s statement a “miserable failure”.

“It took 28 words to acknowledge the hurt Eddie Betts experienced. And 177 words of pathetic self-justification of all the good the league has done and no one put their name to it. No sorrow, no regret, no commitment to action,” he said.

“Reading between the lines you’d guess the AFL lives in fear of a class action from the players who were mistreated.”

Wilson also called out AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh, claiming she had urged him to further investigate the Crows camp several times to no avail.

“I spoke to Paul Marsh on countless occasions… I repeatedly called him over an 18-month period,” she said.

“How he can say he wasn’t aware (of details Betts’ book reveals)? I’m shocked by that more than anything.

“Then I rang him with other allegations, terrible allegations from other players.

“How he can say this now … they (AFLPA) get paid a lot of money, surely their investigative resources are better than that.”

The Age’s Sam McClure continued on 3AW’s sports day: “The statement from Paul Marsh, to put it bluntly, is convenient.

“The AFL and the AFL Players’ Association had access to all the information that journalists reporting the stuff had access to. All they had to do was pick up the phone and have a private conversation.

“They’re now saying this is all new information and will go back and reinvestigate – I’m sorry that’s too little and too late for mine.”

Marsh confirmed the AFLPA first became aware of issues from the Crows camp following media reports, but emphasized that players initially told the union “there was nothing to it”.

“It’s not that we haven’t had conversations – and I’m certainly not saying we didn’t know there was a level of angst about this,” he told SEN Breakfast on Thursday morning.

“I’m open to a view from some maybe that we could’ve tried harder, so I’m not saying everything that could’ve been done was done. But we certainly tried to get to the bottom of what happened with players — and I don’t feel as though we did.

“Players I think were silent on this issue for fear reasons and some players had good experiences, so we understand some of the reasons as to why that happened. But it’s made this issue quite a difficult one.

“Maybe with Eddie now having spoke about it, it might empower other players to want to speak about it.”

Meanwhile, Geelong Cats champion Patrick Dangerfield, who currently serves as the AFLPA president, said it would have been difficult for the union to take immediate action due to the circumstances at the time.

“We’ve gone off the information we were given at the time. And quite clearly, it’s difficult to articulate that, I think, for the players that were there at the time when they’re still playing for Adelaide. So we, as much as we could and as best we could, got the information that was relevant,” Dangerfield told sports day.

“Had we known all the information from the outset, I clearly think a more immediate reaction would have taken place. But that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t necessarily agree with the fact that we didn’t do anything. I think we exhausted a lot of our resources around how we could support the players, but at the same time, you need that open, free-flowing communication between two — and that was a challenge.”

AFLPA Statement

“The details outlined by Eddie Betts in his new book about the 2018 Adelaide Crows training camp are extremely concerning and difficult to read. We commend Eddie on the courage he’s shown in telling this story and are troubled by the ongoing hurt caused to Eddie and his family from him.

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. Firstly, the lack of psychological safety afforded to the entire playing group, secondly the cultural appropriation of Indigenous artefacts and, thirdly, the deliberate gathering of confidential information on players for the purpose of harmfully misusing the information.

At the time that some details of the camp started to emerge, the AFLPA spoke to a number of Adelaide players about the camp. 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.

On the back of the new information that has emerged, the AFLPA will be contacting all Adelaide players since 2018 to seek a better understanding of the details of the camp and any individual issues that may have arisen from it.”

AFL Statement

“The AFL acknowledges the hurt Eddie Betts, his family, his community, and by extension all Indigenous players experienced as a result of Adelaide Crows’ pre-season camp in 2018.

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. 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. One of the most important outcomes of the regular dialogue with the group has been the introduction of mandatory Indigenous Player Development Managers at all 18 clubs to provide cultural guidance and support for players.”

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Adelaide Crows apologizes to former AFL star Eddie Betts following new book airing claims about preseason training camp

Inside the 'weird' and 'disrespectful' training camp that robbed Eddie Betts of his passion for football

Former AFL champion Eddie Betts says his form slumped after he felt disrespected and traumatized at an Adelaide Crows preseason training trip, accusing the camp of cultural insensitivities.

Betts’s biography The Boy from Boomerang Crescent, which was released today, includes a chapter on the controversial 2018 Adelaide Crows’ preseason training camp following a devastating defeat to Richmond in the 2017 grand final.

In it, Betts describes the anxiety and anger he felt following the camp and the subsequent fallout.

AFL Players’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh said the association would contact all players who attended the 2018 camp to get a better understanding of issues that might have arisen.

In a statement, he said the association had previously spoken to players about the camp, but based on the experience detailed in Betts’s book, he now believed “players felt pressured into remaining silent.”

“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 commend Eddie on the courage he’s shown in telling this story and are troubled by the ongoing hurt caused to Eddie and his family.”

In one example, Betts wrote how personal details he had confidentially shared with a camp counselor were used to verbally abuse him in front of teammates during a physically and emotionally grievous “initiation.”

Among the insults yelled while he “crawled through the dirt” was that the father-of-five would be a “sh** father” as he was “raised by only his mother.”

Betts, who joined the Geelong coaching team following his retirement last year, described the incident as “traumatizing” and had him “broken to tears”.

Eddie Betts holds his hands out and looks at a yellow AFL ball while being challenged by a Suns player
Eddie Betts returned to Carlton in 2020.(AAP: Dave Hunt)

The 350-game veteran said teammates were recruited to verbally abuse each other during the same exercise.

“I’ll live with this shame for the rest of my life,” he said.

Betts said players at the camp were prevented from showering, had to surrender their phones, and were transported blindfolded on a bus that “reeked of off food” with the Richmond theme song loudly playing on loop.

Betts details how First Nations rituals were misappropriated, which he found “extremely disrespectful”, and references to sacred Aboriginal words “were chucked around in a carefree manner”.

“When I started to talk to people around me about my experience, I started to realize that what we’d been put through was all just a bit f***** up, and I rightly became angry,” he said.

A man and a woman with five children gathered around them stand on a dirt path in front of a tree
Eddie Betts with his wife Anna and five children in Darwin in November 2021.(Instagram: annascullie)

Betts said he raised his concerns with the club and asked to remove Aboriginal players from further “mind training exercises” with the company behind the camp, which continued to work with the Crows until later that year. The club “mutually agreed to part ways” with the company in June.

“Three weeks after I addressed the team about my concerns, I was told that I hadn’t been re-elected to the leadership group. I was devastated,” he wrote.

Crows chief executive Tim Silvers, who only joined the club last year, said he would investigate Betts’s claims that he had been dropped from the leadership group as a result of raising his concerns.

Silvers said he was “saddened” to read the impact the camp had had on Betts.

“It obviously hurt him in a number of ways,” he said.

Silvers described Betts as a “legend” who “lit up the Adelaide Oval for a long period of time”.

A man wearing a suit speaks to microphones in front of a blue and red banner
Adelaide Crows chief executive Tim Silvers apologized to Betts for his experience at the camp.(ABC News: Camron Slessor)

Silvers acknowledged the camp “probably wasn’t the right move at that time” and apologized to Betts and “any of our playing group who had a negative experience.”

“To have someone like Eddie, who has now left our club, to have a negative experience, saddens me,” he said.

Silvers said the club had new leadership and was moving “in a positive direction”.

Betts acknowledged in the book that a SafeWork SA inquiry had cleared the club of breaching any workplace safety laws, but he wrote: “My view remains that the activities there were inappropriate, counter-productive and culturally unsafe.”

books of eddie betts on bookshelf, with his face on the front cover
Eddie Betts’s biography, The Boy from Boomerang Crescent, reveals claims about the Crows’ preseason training camp.(ABC News: Ben Pettit)

In a statement made in 2018, the Crows said SafeWork SA’s investigation “found neither the club nor any other person or organisation, breached any work health and safety laws during or in relation to the camp”.

SafeWork SA provided no more information about the investigation.

Crows player Rory Laird, who also attended the camp, described Betts as one of his “close mates” and a “loved figure” at the club.

“I think each individual had different experiences and I actually wasn’t on that part of the camp I guess, so I can’t really comment on the ins and outs of it,” he said.

“But obviously as a former teammate and a friend, you don’t like hearing about that.”

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.”

“Personally, 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,” he wrote.

The ABC has contacted Collective Minds for comment.

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AFL reacts to Eddie Betts ‘betrayal’ at Adelaide Crows pre-season camp

AFL reacts to Eddie Betts 'betrayal' at Adelaide Crows pre-season camp

The AFL community has reacted with disgust after former Adelaide footballer Eddie Betts published a confronting recollection of his experience at a pre-season camp with the Crows in early 2018.

The leadership camp, following the Crows’ 2017 AFL Grand Final loss to Richmond, thrust the club into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

A number of players and officials left the club in the wake of the camp, and now Betts has detailed behind-the-scenes information in his upcoming autobiography The Boy from Boomerang Crescent.

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The four-day camp on the Gold Coast left Betts feeling “like a piece of me was brainwashed”, with excerpts being reported by Nine Newspapers.

Betts alleged that confidential information he shared in counseling sessions had been misused, writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.

Following the ordeal, the three-time All-Australian Betts said he approached the Crows and voiced his concerns with the camp, only to be dropped from the leadership group three weeks later.

Betts said the camp had a major impact on his form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. He left the Crows and returned to Carlton at the end of 2019 before retiring at the end of 2021.

Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto, who represented the club for 15 seasons, responded to the damning allegations on Wednesday morning.

“He’s been one of the greats of the club,” Ricciuto told Adelaide’s Triple M Breakfast with Roo, Ditts and Loz.

“Player welfare is always number one no matter what’s going on, you always want everyone to be happy, so it’s very sad.

“I think the club has been on record at times to say that they acknowledge that it wasn’t handled perfectly. It had all good intentions but didn’t go perfectly.

“We all love Eddie and hopefully Eddie is getting over that… certainly the club moved on from that and are looking towards the future and have made a lot of ground since back then. It has come up in Eddie’s book and that is fair enough.”

Betts’ revelations have angered the footy community. Former Swans star Ryan Fitzgerald, who is a huge Crows fan, tweeted: “Really uncomfortable to read. Particularly the insensitivities around Eddie’s past of him. He is such an integral part of the AFC and their history, so rejected that he left feeling like that.”

Ex-Melbourne captain Garry Lyon also reacted. “When you read those words from Eddie, there is no debate about how it impacted on him,” he told SEN Breakfast.

“He talks about the Indigenous players, the cultural differences or sensitivities that weren’t adhered to. That’s Eddie … and that’s unequivocal, right? You can’t argue with any of that.

“Everyone’s own experiences have been caught up in this and from an Indigenous point of view, a lot of it since Eddie said that cultural sensitivities weren’t adhered to – and that is very, very real.

“In the end, it was untenable. 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. 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.

“You’ve got a section of the football club – and I’m not just putting this at the feet of Walker and Sloane, there may be others in the same boat – saying, ‘I got so much out of this, it was good’. And then on the other hand, right at the other end of the scale, you’ve got, ‘No, it ripped me apart, it ripped my relationship apart’.

“No wonder then from a footy club point of view and trying to stay together and on the same page, it ended up where it was.

“If you are told, whether you’re black or white or otherwise, ‘These camp people want to speak to you and they say to step aside from everyone else privately and we want you to have a conversation where you are open and vulnerable’ … And I go, ‘OK. In terms of building me as a better player and a leader, I’ll share and I’ll give you these really sensitive things that, to me, are important’. Then to have that thrown back in my face, that’s not cultural for me.

“How it affects me and someone else might be different based on culture, but that’s a betrayal for me.”

speaking on SEN SA Breakfastformer Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes questioned Adelaide’s leadership, calling out Crows star Rory Sloane for his public remarks after the camp when he said it made him a better husband and a better father.

“The question is, all of the people who have defended the camp and have said nothing went on, including the Crows fans, including Mark Ricciuto, including the club, what do they do now? Details have come out, Eddie Betts was abused about his mother, ”Cornes said.

“The saddest thing for me, the two most popular players at Adelaide are Tony Modra and Eddie Betts. No one made the Adelaide Oval stand up when they went near the football in Crows history like Eddie Betts. No one has been more popular.

“That’s the echelon that Eddie Betts is held in. To read how he was treated by his own football club, of which he is an icon, that was the saddest part for me.

“We do now have a blow-by-blow account which is pretty harrowing that your most popular player in club history was treated like an animal on this camp.

“I think it’s embarrassing for Rory Sloane and Taylor Walker to now hear that that was a rehearsed line and that they were all told and indoctrinated into saying it had made them a better father and husband and child. And to see Eddie Betts relay that that was actually rehearsed, it does not paint Rory and his leadership of him in great light.

“There’s a lot of egg on the face of Crows supporters, the footy club and a few players that were there.”

The Crows were cleared of any work health and safety breaches after an independent investigation into the training camp by SafeWork SA.

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Eddie Betts book, excerpt about Adelaide Crows training camp, trade to Carlton, Don Pyke

Eddie Betts book, excerpt about Adelaide Crows training camp, trade to Carlton, Don Pyke

Melbourne champion Garry Lyon says it’s no surprise an infamous pre-season camp “destroyed” Adelaide after reading Eddie Betts’ confronting recollection of his experience.

An excerpt from Betts’ upcoming autobiography, ‘The Boy from Boomerang Crescent’, was released on Monday night via The Age in which the triple All-Australian labeled the camp “weird” and “completely disrespectful”.

Several players, including Betts, and officials departed the club in the years following the pre-season leadership camp, which foxfooty.com.au revealed details of in March that year.

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In the most damning first-hand account of the 2018 camp yet, Betts claimed private details shared in a counseling session during the camp were misused, while sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals were misappropriated.

“There was all sorts of weird shit that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture,” he wrote.

Betts also wrote he was told he would “come back a better husband and father, a better teammate” after the camp – terms veteran players Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane used when defending the four-day event.

speaking on SEN Breakfast on Wednesday morning, Lyon said he was stunned by Betts’ account, but added it provided important context as to the turmoil that followed at the Crows.

Rory Sloane and Eddie Betts during an Adelaide Crows game in 2019. Picture: Scott BarbourSource: Getty Images

“When you read those words from Eddie, there is no debate about how it impacted on him. He talks about the Indigenous players, the cultural differences or sensitivities that he were not adhered to. That’s Eddie … and that’s unequivocal, right? You can’t argue with any of that,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.

“And then you read this from Taylor Walker: ‘The camp that we went on as a footy club, personally I found one of the most beneficial and rewarding camps I’ve ever been on as an individual. I encourage any of my mates, family members to do the same. Our footy club, like most other AFL clubs, are trying to get an edge over (other teams).’ Rory Sloane: ‘I can speak about what I got out of it personally. 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. For me, the experience was unbelievable.’

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“Now, clearly, everyone’s own experiences have been caught up in this and from an Indigenous point of view, a lot of it since Eddie said that cultural sensitivities weren’t adhered to – and that is very, very real.

“In the end, it was untenable. 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. When you get the Sloane’s and the Walker’s, who have their recollection, and then you’ve got Eddie and others I would imagine… no wonder it destroyed that joint.

“You’ve got a section of the football club – and I’m not just putting this at the feet of Walker and Sloane, there may be others in the same boat – saying ‘I got so much out of this, it was good ‘. And then on the other hand, right at the other end of the scale, you’ve got ‘no, it ripped me apart, it ripped my relationship apart’. No wonder then from a footy club point of view and trying to stay together and on the same page, it ended up where it was.”

Eddie Betts was a star for the Crows. Picture: James ElsbySource: Getty Images

Essendon legend Tim Watson said he was shocked by the claims of cultural insensitivities during the camp.

“Given what they did at that camp you would think the planning that went into that – as part of that planning from a football club perspective – they would’ve said to these guys: ‘OK, what is it that you’re planning to do?’ And you would expect them to outline all the different areas that they were going to go, how they were going to go about it, what their objectives were – all those sorts of things,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.

“So you would think somewhere in there, there would be somebody representing the Adelaide Crows and there would be somebody there as part of the Adelaide Crows group who would understand the cultural sensitivities for some of those Indigenous players if they were to present the camp in the way that it was obviously presented. At that point, you would think somebody would say ‘no, you are going into territory now that we shouldn’t venture into’.”

Lyon said Betts’ belief his private details he shared were then misused during the camp was a “betrayal”.

“I’m just reading the excerpt, so I haven’t read the whole book. But if you are told, whether you’re black or white or otherwise, ‘these camp people want to speak to you and they say to step aside from everyone else privately and we want you to have a conversation where you are open and vulnerable’ … And I go ‘OK. In terms of building me as a better player and a leader, I’ll share and I’ll give you these really sensitive things that, to me, are important’. Then to have that thrown back in my face, that’s not cultural for me,” Lyon said.

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“How it affects me and someone else might be different based on culture, but that’s a betrayal for me.”

After kicking 310 goals across six seasons with Adelaide, Betts was traded back to Carlton at the end of 2019 to finish his career.

Four-time Power best and fairest winner Kane Cornes dubbed Betts one of the two most popular players to ever represent Adelaide alongside Tony Modra. So for Cornes, to “read how he was treated by his own football club – of which he is an icon of – that was the saddest part for me”.

Cornes said he would be fascinated by how the Crows, as well as South Australian media personalities, would respond to the Betts book.

“The question is, all of the people who have defended the camp and have said nothing went on… what do they do now?” I have asked on SEN SA Breakfast.

“How are they going to deal with that? Because we do now have a ‘blow-by-blow account’, which is pretty harrowing that your second or most popular player in the club’s history was treated like an animal, really, on this camp.”

Cornes added: “There’s a lot of egg on the face from Crows supporters, from the footy club and a few players that were there.”

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AFL news 2022: Eddie Betts spills on Adelaide Crows training camp in new book, details

AFL news 2022: Eddie Betts spills on Adelaide Crows training camp in new book, details

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

The infamous leadership camp, following the Crows’ 2017 AFL Grand Final loss at the hands of Richmond, thrust the club into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

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A number of players and officials walked away from the club in the wake of the camp and now Betts has detailed even more behind the scenes information in his upcoming autobiography ‘The Boy from Boomerang Crescent’.

The four-day camp held on the Gold Coast left Betts feeling “like a piece of me was brainwashed” with excerpts being reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Betts revealed confidential information he had shared in counseling sessions had been misused while writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.

“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.

“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.

“There was all sorts of weird shit that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture.”

Betts confirmed the Richmond theme song was played repeatedly during a training session and he was put in a body harness and told to fight his way towards a knife as camp instructors hurled verbal abuse his way.

“Things were yelled at me that I had disclosed to the camp’s ‘counsellors’ about my upbringing. All the people present heard these things,” he wrote.

“I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared.

“Another camp-dude jumped on my back and started to berate me about my mother, something so deeply personal that I was absolutely shattered to hear it come out of his mouth.”

Following the now infamous camp, Betts approached the club and voiced his concerns with the camp and said he wouldn’t take part in any future mind-training exercises. Three weeks later he was dropped from the leadership group.

“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.

“I told the club I wouldn’t be involved in any more mind-training exercises at all.”

The camp had a major impact on Betts’ on-field form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. Betts left the Crows and returned to Carlton at the end of 2019 before retiring at the end of 2021.

The Crows were cleared of any work health and safety breaches after an independent investigation into the training camp by SafeWork SA.

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Inside the ‘weird’ and ‘disrespectful’ training camp that robbed Eddie Betts of his passion for football

Inside the 'weird' and 'disrespectful' training camp that robbed Eddie Betts of his passion for football

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.

Betts, who retired last year after a glittering 350-game career, has detailed the significant fallout from the Crows’ 2018 pre-season camp in his autobiography.

Ahead of the release of The Boy from Boomerang Crescent on Wednesday, excerpts of the eagerly-anticipated book have emerged via Nine newspapers.

Betts, an Indigenous icon and one of the AFL’s greatest small forwards, has claimed the group — which he chose not to name in the book — running the camp misused personal and sensitive information.

“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.

“Things were yelled at me that I had disclosed to the camp’s ‘counsellors’ about my upbringing.

“All the people present heard these things.

“I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared.

“Another camp-dude jumped on my back and started to berate me about my mother, something so deeply personal that I was absolutely shattered to hear it come out of his mouth.”

Betts said what happened at the camp on the Gold Coast and the group’s involvement with the club impacted on his mental health and form during the 2018 season.

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