Taylor Walker lifts lid on Adelaide Football Club’s 2018 Gold Coast pre-season camp fallout
The Crows captain who backed the infamous pre-season camp says he had “no idea” what players were walking into – and has never forgiven those who betrayed him after.
Crows great Taylor Walker says he will never forgive some of his teammates who “broke his trust” in the aftermath of the controversial pre-season camp on the Gold Coast that fractured the club.
The then captain also says he was left vulnerable because the club encouraged him to endorse the camp – even though he didn’t know details of the activities planned. If he had known what was planned, he says, “I don’t think I’d encourage (us) to go on it”.
In an exclusive interview with SAWeekend to discuss his book Tex: A Taylor Made Footy Story, Walker said the most disappointing aspect of the 2018 camp saga was the breach of trust that followed.
“I was trying to patch all the holes that were occurring,” he said. “I had a meeting here (at his home) one day with most of the boys, and that got out.
“A few of the boys broke my trust immensely, and I’ll never forgive them. And I know who they were … and I will never forgive them.”
Walker was also fuming at the lack of detail he received before being asked to support the camp – run by Collective Mind with a goal of helping Crows players overcome the previous season’s grand final loss to Richmond.
“I felt like I was putting in a bit of a vulnerable position because I was encouraged a lot to back it in, however I had f--king no idea what we were doing,” he said.
“I was like, well, if you can guarantee us that it’s going to help us, then I’ll back you in. And I felt f--king pissed off about that. That’s what I was probably disappointed about the most.”
Walker said some of the camp was a positive experience but confidentiality breaches marred some activities and he could understand why some players were upset at what occurred.
“There was some stuff that they (the facilitators) said to a few of the boys and you’re thinking, ‘Not everyone in this group knows that’,” he said. “So that’s when a few boys got a bit disgruntled, which is fair enough. I felt quite pissed off that I had to endorse it, but I had no idea what we were going to do.
“The intention … I could see what the club wanted to do. Execution … poor.”
More Coverage
Star forward Eddie Betts later labelled the camp “weird” and “disrespectful”. Josh Jenkins said some of the activities were “dumb” and “disgraceful” and Bryce Gibbs claimed the camp was responsible for ending some players’ careers.
Both the Crows and AFL hierarchy later apologised to players amid claims some activities included pseudo-psychological hazing, weaponised personal trauma, and cultural insensitivity.
Originally published as Taylor Walker lifts lid on Adelaide Football Club’s 2018 Gold Coast pre-season camp fallout
Dees into prelim after Cat’s horror miss, Roos on track for three-peat
The advice from Izak and Kozzie that has Crows-linked gun primed
My biggest regret: Taylor Walker reflects on racism saga
Matthew Lloyd left him out of the school team, but now he’s a draft bolter
Roos’ talent ranked: Guns aplenty, but time to fix what Clarko couldn’t
