Mind games cross line

Aboriginal Crows players offended on pre-season camp

SOME of Adelaide’s Aboriginal players were offended by the use of an artefact referred to as a talking stick and references to a rite of passage during the club’s pre-season camp.

As the fallout from the camp continued, it emerged that an Aboriginal player took leave from the club to return home for cultural support.

But both the club and player are adamant it was unrelated to the January camp on the Gold Coast.

The player has since returned to the club to continue his career. He spent a brief time at home with family about a month ago.

Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman last week acknowl- edged parts of the mind-training camp — which was run by consultancy group Collective Mind — had offended indigenous players and had been removed from the program.

Adelaide has faced a week of intense media and public scrutiny after it lost its fourth game in a row to fall to 11th on the ladder at the mid-season bye. A Crows spokesman said last night the club was aware of the situation on the camp and reinforced that the health and wellbeing of players was always paramount.

The fallout from the camp will raise debate about whether there is enough understanding of Aboriginal culture at AFL clubs. It is estimated about 10 per cent of the current AFL playing population identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

According to the AFL Players’ Association, as of February last year five clubs had a specialist indigenous welfare officer — Port Adelaide, Melbourne, West Coast, North Melbourne and Gold Coast — while Fremantle and Collingwood had an indigenous contact person but not a full-time liaison.

Aboriginal culture is one of the oldest in the world and there are significant sensitivities regarding spiritual beliefs. Chapman last week acknowledged mistakes had been made on the training camp.