Crows apologise to Eddie Betts over camp trauma

Silvers spoke to reporters on the membership’s West Lakes headquarters on Wednesday after bombshell revelations in regards to the notorious 2018 coaching camp got here to gentle with the discharge of Betts’ autobiography.

Silvers revealed he had texted Betts to apologise and expressed his hope the 350-game AFL legend and his household would at some point really feel snug sufficient to return to the membership.

“We’ve bought a management and a tradition (now) that we’re driving that prioritises others and I feel we will transfer ahead, however we wish to say ‘Sorry’ to Eddie and anybody else who had a unfavourable expertise all through the camp,” Silvers stated.

“We’ve gone by way of an investigation by way of two totally different avenues, however we’re sorry to anybody, any of our enjoying group, that had a unfavourable expertise as a result of gamers’ welfare and well-being is paramount to our membership.

“For somebody like Eddie, who has left our membership, to have a unfavourable expertise saddens me.”

Silvers, who addressed the enjoying group on the difficulty on Wednesday, hopes to talk with Betts on the cellphone later within the week.

An Indigenous icon and one of many AFL’s best small forwards, Betts claims the expertise on the Gold Coast following the Crows’ shock 2017 grand-final loss was “bizarre” and “disrespectful”.

“There was all types of bizarre s**t that was disrespectful to many cultures, however notably and very disrespectful to my tradition,” Betts wrote in his guide, The Boy from Boomerang Crescent.

“I felt like I’d misplaced the drive to play footy, and to be sincere, I’m undecided I ever had the identical vitality I did earlier than that camp.”

Crows soccer director Mark Ricciuto addressed the difficulty on Triple M on Wednesday, with the membership legend expressing his hope Betts would be capable to transfer on from the distressing expertise.

“It’s unhappy to listen to Eddie write that as a result of he’s been one of many greats of the soccer membership,” Ricciuto stated.

“I feel the membership’s been on file at instances to say they acknowledge it wasn’t dealt with completely, it had all good intentions nevertheless it didn’t go completely.

“All of us love Eddie and hopefully Eddie’s getting over that.

“That was 4 years in the past, actually the membership has moved on from that and looking out in direction of the longer term and have made numerous floor since then.”

Ricciuto is without doubt one of the few remaining senior off-field leaders from the interval in query nonetheless concerned on the membership, with coach Don Pyke, chief government Andrew Fagan and chairman Rob Chapman having left.

Silvers was requested if it was acceptable for Ricciuto to resign given Betts’ shock revelations.

“I don’t suppose it’s my place to discuss a director of our board,” he replied.

“What I’ll say about Mark is that he’s a passionate one who has delivered each on and off the sphere.”

Betts claimed he was dropped from the on-field management group after voicing his issues in regards to the cultural insensitivities he and fellow Indigenous gamers skilled on the camp.

Silvers stated the membership would examine these contemporary claims in regards to the management construction additional in coming days.

Betts performed for the Crows till the tip of 2019, earlier than requesting a commerce again to his authentic membership Carlton and retiring final yr.

A SafeWork SA investigation final yr cleared Adelaide of breaching well being and security legal guidelines and an AFL investigation in October 2018 cleared the Crows of any rule breach.

Betts’ story even prompted Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney to talk out, saying “nobody deserves to be handled” how the now-35-year-old was.

“Eddie’s distressing expertise is a vital reminder on why we have to do higher at understanding & respecting Indigenous tradition and traditions,” Burney tweeted.

-AAP