A new public apology from the Adelaide Football Club regarding its notorious 2018 pre-season camp suggests high-profile organisational issues are rarely resolved without the support of those impacted, according to a crisis management expert.
On Monday, Adelaide Football Club chairman John Olsen and CEO Tim Silvers issued an open letter apologising to a number of former Crows players who have recently described negative experiences at the AFL training camp.
The camp, which took place months after the team’s 2017 AFL Grand Final defeat at the hands of Richmond, first made headlines in 2018 when participants claimed senior club figures were exposed to psychologically stressful experiences.
Scrutiny over the camp and its impact on those players led to an investigation by workplace safety regulator SafeWork SA, which in September 2021 cleared the club of any safety breaches at the Gold Coast event.
“The club fully co-operated with the confidential investigation, voluntarily providing all information and documentation sought by SafeWork SA,” the club said of SafeWork SA’s findings.
“The matter is now closed.”
But the camp burst back into the public conscience this month, when former Adelaide Crows star and camp participant Eddie Betts detailed his recollections in a new autobiography.
Betts, who is Indigenous, said some elements of the camp misappropriated culturally sensitive ideas and practices.
“I was put into a situation that was psychologically and culturally unsafe,” Betts said, according to excerpt published by Fox Footy. “I’ll live with this shame for the rest of my life.”
After the release of Betts’ autobiography, former teammate Josh Jenkins publicly revealed their own recollections of the camp.
Jenkins said camp staff used personal experiences he had shared in confidence against him during some psychological exercises.
“I specifically asked for assurance pre-camp that nothing regarding my childhood would be raised or used on the camp to spur me on or ‘break me down’,” Jenkins said in statement published by SEN.
“It’s my belief this promise was broken. And I’m not certain I’ll ever forgive those involved for that.”
Other senior players, including captain at the time Taylor Walker, have gone on the record to say they were not negatively impacted by the camp.
And Amon Woulfe, co-founder of Collective Mind — the mindset training organisation tapped by the club to coordinate the camp — last year told The Advertiser the camp “stayed well clear of any pathology, personal trauma, childhood issues and the like”.
However, in light of the new statements from Betts, Jenkins, and former Crow Bryce Gibbs, the club issued a new apology on Monday.
“It has been confronting to hear Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins describe their experiences during the 2018 pre-season training camp on the Gold Coast, as well as the subsequent hurt they have carried,” Olsen and Silvers said.
“We apologise to Eddie, Josh and any other player, coach or staff member, who had a negative experience during this time.”
The AFL has issued its own statement in light of Betts’ book, acknowledging the “hurt” experienced by him, “his family, his community, and by extension all Indigenous players experienced as a result of Adelaide Crows’ pre-season camp in 2018”.
The latest apology can serve as an example for businesses facing high-profile scrutiny, according to Tony Jaques, a crisis management expert and founder of consulting firm Issues Outcomes.
While the club’s September 2021 statement was correct to say the SafeWork SA investigation cleared the club of any legal breaches, Jaques says public interest in the issue and its fallout was not ‘closed’.
“The truth is issues are very rarely truly resolved,” Jaques said. “The saying in the issues management business is that issues don’t die, they only go to sleep for a while.”
Reflecting broadly on public relations crises, Jaques says it was important to acknowledge how organisations don’t have the final say in when public interest fades away.
“Firstly, you don’t get to decide whether an issue is over,” he said. “And secondly, you have to recognise an issue can persist for months, and even decades.”
“The thing about closure is that you’re saying ‘It’s closed for us’,” he added.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s closed for the stakeholders. That’s the important distinction, I think.”
For a matter to truly resolve, it is vital for organisations to maintain communication and consult with impacted stakeholders “to make sure that it’s closed to them as well”.
This can be achieved “by talking to people concerned, saying to those people, ‘Is there anything more you want us to do? How do you feel about this? What else can we do for you? Is there anything can we do together?’” Jaques says.
“Those kinds of questions are the way that you get the other people to ‘sign on’ if you like, or agree with you that the matter is closed.”
That approach was touted in the latest apology, with Olsen and Silvers saying: “The most important thing we can do now is listen and offer our support.”
“In recent times there has also been a cultural shift and the focus is firmly on prioritising others,” they added.
“This is a genuine intent that stretches beyond the football department and permeates throughout our organisation. It’s a whole of club approach.”
The open letter was “heartfelt”, Jaques says, and addressed the four key aspects of a genuine corporate apology: stating the facts as they are known, apologising to those impacted, empathising with their concerns, and pledging future action.
The fact Olsen and Silver — who both joined the club after the camp took place — put their name to the apology provided a personal aspect missing from the September 2021 statement, which was published under the club banner without direct attribution, he adds.
However, Jaques says there was a lesson for other companies navigating their own high-profile issues, and the enduring pain such matters can cause.
“You can’t declare a matter closed until the people you’re dealing with agree with you and say, ‘Yes, the matter is closed,’” Jaques said.
Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
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