The 2018 Adelaide Crows pre-season camp was a summer camp undertaken by players of the Adelaide Football Club from January 29 to February 2 in the lead-up to the 2018 AFL season. Run by Collective Mind, a consultancy group based in Queensland, the camp was designed to strengthen the mental toughness of the players, a lack of which was blamed by Adelaide's Head of Football Brett Burton and coach Don Pyke for their loss in the 2017 AFL Grand Final. According to some reports, the camp was "cult-like", and ultimately caused the departure of many senior officials, including both Burton and Pyke. It was said to have had the opposite of its intended team building effect, and contributed to a rapid deterioration in Adelaide's onfield form. Information on the events of the camp was limited until a July 2020 article by journalist Sam McClure, who obtained details from various former Adelaide players. In February 2022, Nine Entertainment retracted McClure's July 2020 article and other camp-related publications due to a defamation lawsuit from Collective Minds. However, some claims in the publications were later supported or corroborated by players. Background Having faced numerous hardships throughout previous seasons such as the murder of coach Phil Walsh and the death of assistant coach Dean Bailey, the Adelaide Football Club had a successful year in 2017 and finished as minor premiers at the end of the 2017 home-and-away season. Captain Taylor Walker was widely regarded as one of the best in the league, and the shock and pain that had been felt by many in the club as a result of the murder of Walsh had been routed into a strong desire to honour his memory by winning a premiership. However, in the Grand Final, when they faced the Richmond Football Club, Adelaide were soundly beaten. Instead of the close match many were anticipating, Richmond won by eight goals, and dominated the entire match. The large loss demoralised the playing group, with many being unable to face the media. Nevertheless, there was a strong feeling that Adelaide would bounce back from the loss and perform well again the next season. Collective Minds Collective Minds is a consultancy group based in Queensland, which is "hired by sporting teams and businesses to build a mentally resilient culture", had worked with Adelaide throughout the 2017 season, and had generally been perceived as effective, if unorthodox. On one occasion