“The saddest” aspect of Betts' camp revelations and those now with “a lot of egg” on their faces

Kane Cornes believes the saddest element of the Eddie Betts/Adelaide camp saga is how an icon of the club has been left feeling.

Betts provided a firsthand account of what truly happened on the infamous camp following the 2017 AFL Grand Final, revealing several disturbing elements.

Speaking on SEN SA Breakfast, Cornes wonders how all those who defended the camp are feeling this morning.

“The question is, all of the people who have defended the camp and have said nothing went on, including the Crows fans, including Mark Ricciuto, including the club, what do they do now? Details have come out, Eddie Betts was abused about his mother,” Cornes said.

“The saddest thing for me, the two most popular players at Adelaide are Tony Modra and Eddie Betts. No one made the Adelaide Oval stand up when they went near the football in Crows history like Eddie Betts. No one has been more popular.

“That’s the echelon that Eddie Betts is held in. To read how he was treated by his own football club, of which he is an icon, that was the saddest part for me.”

During the initial revelations about the camp, Adelaide football director Mark Ricciuto dismissed it out of hand.

“I think people like Kane Cornes and Damian Barrett, they want a blow-by-blow account of what happened on the camp and they’re not going to get that,” Ricciuto said at the time.

“The fact that players haven’t come out and slammed it proved that most of them – there’s nothing to slam, there’s not.”

After replaying the comments, Cornes said: “Well there is. Now we wait for those that are still there, and there’s not many left at the football club, and what their response will be.”

“The Adelaide media has smashed Sam McClure and Caroline Wilson. Stephen Rowe, David Penberthy, my old man (Graham Cornes) have smashed them to the point of ridicule.

“I think their stories are all justified. The Crows fans have all done the same thing. Go back and read the tweets from the Crows fans at the time when The Age first apologised – how are they going to deal with that?

“Because we do now have a blow-by-blow account which is pretty harrowing that your most popular player in club history was treated like an animal on this camp.”

Betts revealed that players were told at the end of the ordeal to tell people that the camp made them ‘a better father and husband, having come from this camp’.

The likes of Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane did in fact give similar accounts of the camp in the aftermath.

“I think it’s embarrassing for Rory Sloane and Taylor Walker to now hear that that was a rehearsed line and that they were all told and indoctrinated into saying it had made them a better father and husband and child and to see Eddie Betts relay that that was actually rehearsed, it doesn’t paint Rory and his leadership in great light,” Cornes added.

“There’s a lot of egg on the face of Crows supporters, the footy club and a few players that were there.”