The Adelaide Football Club continues to come under fire for the mishandling of almost every aspect of its operations in 2018, with former player Stephen Rowe slamming the organisation and saying the recent apology to players was insincere and “not enough”.
The Crows have been under fire since word came out over the abysmally run pre-season camp, with confusion and anger rising through the year, seemingly put to bed on more than one occasion before firing up again.
Coach Don Pyke, director of football Brett Burton and club CEO Andrew Fagan addressed a group of senior players last week, hoping to finally close the chapter and start preparation anew for 2019, but Rowe says there are still rifts between the playing group and their off-field leaders.
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“It’s Fagan and Burton,” Rowe said on Footy SA on Channel 9 across South Australia.
“Their apology, from where I sit and the people I’ve spoken to, wasn’t enough and there was no sincerity in it.
“Players leave on holidays knowing there is a massive problem.
“And here’s the other thing I’ll say; the overwhelming emotion from the players is the club is more interested in their brand and their position, not the playing group.
All reports suggest a huge rift still exists after last week’s attempted pacification, and the damage may not have ended yet.
Potential star key-position player Mitch McGovern has asked for a trade just one year after signing a new contract and there’s suggestions others may join him in seeking a new home in the upcoming trade period.
Considering where Adelaide was as a group just 12 months ago to the place they find themselves now, it has been an almost unprecedented breakdown of unity within a professional football club.
It’s arguable that even at the height of the Stephen Dank/ASADA supplements saga at Essendon, the Bombers remained more united as a group than the Crows currently are.
And remembering the bond that existed at Adelaide after the tragic passing of Phil Walsh in 2015 only makes the current situation even more inconceivable.
“The emotional interrogation, to me, was the ultimate betrayal of that playing group, Rowe said in regard to the treatment of players on the preseason camp.
“What was said to that playing group, without a shadow of a doubt, is inexcusable.
“The bigger crime, for me, is the management of this issue from that day to where we sit here, of Don Pyke, Andrew Fagan (the club’s CEO) and Brett Burton. It was heartless at worst and it was unprofessional at best.
“The disrespect shown to key support staff, to players, to players’ partners, is their biggest failing and here’s the problem. Sorry is not enough. Sorry is not enough to that group.”