Another football staffer in the gun was development coach Heath Younie, who approved the Mankind Project after personally testing out its methods over several days, at Burton’s request. It is not known whether the senior players received an apology but what is confirmed is that Pyke and his bosses pleaded with the on-field leaders to maintain the faith and continue to place their trust in the football program. However the disenchantment among the Crows players as they head into an unexpectedly early two-month holiday should not be under-estimated. Walker was coming off a recent drinking indiscretion that probably symbolised his disastrous season. The poster boy for the Crows' annus horribilis, Walker was disciplined by the club in a recent incident that was hushed up at the time. The club will only say that the skipper and a few teammates had a few too many over a seven-day break towards the end of the season and that his punishment was either a fine, some extra player appearances or a community service. Loading For Walker, it was another issue in a problematic year of largely disappointing form that began with the 2017 grand final and ended with a two-match suspension for rough conduct in round 21 - his second suspension this season. Earlier this week he told Triple M he did not know why another senior teammate Mitch McGovern was breaking his contract to walk out on Adelaide, the sort of departure that has become an annual regularity at the Crows.

All of the above seems an eternity from this time last year when Walker was named by his peers the best captain in the AFL. Back then, Adelaide was top of the ladder and clear premiership favourites heading into a qualifying final which culminated in a six-goal victory - and the unveiling of the Power Ranger stance - over Greater Western Sydney. Eight Crows players made the 2017 All-Australian squad, three finished in the team and Walker emerged as the best leader in the game, as voted by the AFL Players Association in their MVP awards, with Sloane named most courageous. How did it all go so horribly wrong? Even allowing for injuries, the curse which struck so many top-eight teams in 2018, and a fitness program that started from behind and turned dysfunctional, this Adelaide side looked the stuff of dynasties. It seems impossible still to underestimate the psychological blow that struck the club after the 2017 grand final loss to Richmond. Walker admitted he was overawed by the occasion and said he spent the three weeks ‘‘like a little crab’’ barely leaving the house after the loss. Just as Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin believed his side required a dose of tougher-than-tough love via a brutal pre-season training camp that did not eventuate after the players revolted, the Crows — and specifically football boss Burton and coach Pyke — were convinced that weaknesses needed to be addressed.

They thought their key players’ frailties would be targeted in part by their consultant counsellors — neither medically nor psychologically qualified — Collective Mind at a three-day camp that would take them outside their comfort zone. The Crows have continued to dig holes for themselves since the damage - both direct and collateral — from the camp was first revealed at the start of April. The practitioners and some of their methods were brought back to the club in May by Pyke in a move that provoked a meeting of senior on-field leaders at Walker’s house and, at the time, eroded some of the players' faith in their coach. After the subsequent confrontation, Collective Mind parted ways with the Crows but not without a contractual pay-out. What followed was a clumsy media conference in June in which Burton failed to take responsibility for introducing the consultants and adopted denial mode while both he and Pyke admitted the camp had failed. The club even now refuses to unconditionally admit the folly of this decision, still insisting some players relished the experience. Some allegations of what took place are weird. Some are horrifying. Officials have repeatedly denied certain bizarre behaviours and rituals took place but refuse to respond to direct questions about others. They defend the lack of psychological qualifications endowed upon any of the Collective Mind practitioners, saying it was not a psychological camp. This despite the pall the aftermath of the camp cast on some players and their families and the divide it created among teammates on racial grounds.

Eddie Betts' symbolic move during the season of featuring his children’s names on his hand and stating they were his football motivation was telling. And the club still refused this week to address questions from Fairfax Media regarding the medical concerns harboured by the club doctor. Not only has departing assistant coach Josh Francou, who reportedly put his concerns regarding the camp in writing to his superiors, remained deeply unimpressed by what took place, but a lengthy report was penned by Adelaide’s chief medical officer Dr Marc Cesana. Eddie Betts. Credit:AAP Dr Cesana was called to the southern Queensland summer camp on day two after Tom Lynch collapsed. Cesana ruled that Lynch be sent home. Another player, Kyle Hartigan, who claims he suffered damaging cuts to his knees as a result of what took place and missed games as a result, is in talks with the club regarding his contractual match-trigger clauses.

Adelaide welfare boss Emma Barr, who was singled out by Walker for her outstanding pastoral care following the death of coach Phil Walsh, was also marginalised and kept away from the camp. There seems little doubt the club has failed in its duty of care to its players in this case. Allegations that Cesana’s report was presented to Burton but took too long to reach chief executive Fagan or the board were met with a ''no comment’' this week. The AFL’s investigation team looked into the camp on the basis of media reports but that inquiry, too, appears manifestly inadequate given they were not even aware of a medical report by the club doctor. Still no attempt has been made by the AFL or the AFL Players Association to obtain the Cesana report, which remains for Crows the so-called smoking gun. In fact, both bodies have been strangely inert given the distress some players suffered and the discomfort held by some coaches and other officials over what took place. Both have excused their lack of action by saying no official complaints were lodged — an extraordinary fallback given the game’s recent history where player welfare is concerned. The AFLPA considers the issue is finished although the AFL has indicated a willingness this week to further investigate the cultish camp should evidence emerge. Brett Burton Francou and his fellow assistant Tate Kaesler have voted with their feet and quit. Kaesler will move to the Gold Coast to work under Stuart Dew and Francou is expected to follow despite having served just one year of a three-year contract. Should the club refuse to release him to another club Francou has said he will return to school teaching.