Departing Crow Cam Ellis-Yolmen has pointed to the oft-questioned 2017 Crows training camp on the Gold Coast as a turning point for the club and the beginning of a negative culture.
The camp, run by a company called Collective Minds, involved mental tasks that reportedly made many players feel uneasy and played a role in the early retirement of Curtly Hampton halfway through the 2018 season.
“It has kind of hurt the boys, the culture of the club," Ellis-Yolmen told AFL Trade Radio.
“It divided us and stopped us playing good team footy that we were playing in that 2017 year when we made the grand final."
Since their 2017 grand final loss to Richmond, and since the camp took place, the Crows have been lacklustre, failing to make the finals both years and winning just half their games (22-22).
Ellis-Yolmen is part of a mass exodus in Adelaide, with nine players linked to other clubs or asking to leave.
The big midfielder has signed a three-year deal with Brisbane, where he will join personal friends Charlie Cameron and Mitch Robinson on a squad with premiership hopes in 2020.
While in Adelaide, Ellis-Yolmen leman played just 39 games in eight seasons.
