‘Absolutely it hurt’: Adams opens up on Pies exit… and what convinced him to move
Sydney Swans recruit Taylor Adams has shed further light on his exit from Collingwood, admitting it “hurt” feeling like he didn’t have a role to play in the Magpies’ future.
After 175 games across nine seasons, Adams sensationally departed the Pies in last year’s trade period after their grand final triumph – a game he missed after suffering a hamstring injury earlier in the finals series.
The 30-year old has previously opened up on his move following conversations late in the season with his manager, Winston Rous from Phoenix Management Group, as well as the pain he’ll never “fully get over” of missing the grand final.
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Speaking on 3AW’s Wide World of Sports on Tuesday night, Adams revealed he and Rous shared some “spicy” words over the idea of a trade given he never saw his future away from Collingwood – despite being forced out of the midfield in 2023 – before the ex-Magpie “reluctantly” became open to exploring other options.
However after speaking with key figures at Collingwood including senior coach Craig McRae and football boss Graham Wright in the days after the grand final, Adams said it became clear to him he needed a fresh start elsewhere, realising the club was moving in a different direction.
“I had a few conversations post season after all the dust had settled with some of the key figures at the football club. It became really apparent it was highly recommended to me I look another football club,” Adams told 3AW.
“By that stage, it was Monday post the grand final and Sydney had shown some interest through my manager. I said: ‘Alright, we’re going to have to go see what this is about now’. I jumped on a plane and met with ‘Horse’ (Swans coach John Longmire) and management up here in Sydney on the Wednesday.
“I had a few conversations back and forth with Graham Wright and Craig McRae. I just didn’t get the feeling my future was best suited to Collingwood.”
Asked if that hurt, Adams said: “Yeah it hurt, absolutely. I could see it sort of unfolding over the last 24 months. I still felt like a really valued part of the club moreso than the team. I could see the footy team was going in a different direction.
“That’s what happens in footy, I’m a realist. There’s some really good players up and coming at the Collingwood Football Club. That’s the direction they wanted to take and unfortunately it meant maybe my position was in jeopardy.
“There was a football club that showed great interest in wanting to play me in my primary position and help an upcoming group up here in Sydney, so I jumped at that.”
Reflecting on his ill-timed hamstring setback sustained days before Collingwood’s preliminary final win over GWS that caused Adams to miss the grand final, the midfielder was resolute that it was his call – no one else’s – to not play in the decider.
“I pulled myself out of the grand final … I knew I wasn’t going to be able to perform and I didn’t want to let the team down. ‘Fly’ (McRae) and (Collingwood fitness boss) Jarrod Wade had nothing to do with that decision,” Adams said.
“They gave me every opportunity and said: ‘Go out and train however you want, you’ve got until Thursday’. I could still feel my hamstring on the Tuesday.
“I knew I didn’t have the ability to get through four quarters of the most intense footy you’ll play in a year. I didn’t even get through the warm up, we did a bit of fundamentals off the back of the warm up, wasn’t even into main training.
“I walked off knowing my season was done and I wasn’t willing to risk running out on grand final day and tearing a hamstring in the first 10 minutes and letting my teammates down.”
Adams credited his fiance, Ellie, and those close to him for helping him get through the whirlwind period that followed the grand final and his move to Sydney.
Immediately travelling to Europe after the season, the 206-gamer noted he was “numb to everything” and hadn’t properly accepted what’d transpired until over the Christmas period.
“I was able to just push everything back down, reject the emotion and not really deal with it,” the new Swan said.
“It sort of came to a head over the Christmas period when I realised my home is now in Sydney and I was away from family and friends – that was when I really started to deal with it and opened up to my family and friends about how I’d been feeling and what I’d been dealing with.”
Adams and Grundy have reunited in Sydney (Image: Phil Hillyard )
Adams and Grundy have reunited in Sydney (Image: Phil Hillyard )
Source: News Corp Australia
Adams revealed the Swans had a “special” players only night at the SCG last week where he was inducted into the team, opening up to his new teammates about his recent challenges and the heartbreak of missing out on playing in a premiership.
“I shed a few tears about the emotional side of my last four months, what I’d been through and what I’m sill going through. You just give so much to be a part of a premiership team and it gets taken away from you in an instant,” he said.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to be grateful. I was already grateful for the opportunity I had to play AFL football, but even moreso now knowing what I’ve missed out on.
“Also super grateful for the support I received from the Collingwood Football Club, all the supporters and everyone there. I probably wouldn’t have got through it without them, it would’ve been a far tougher time. I was able to see a real positive out of just being involved in that football club even though I wasn’t out there on grand final day.”
Adams is now back where his AFL career started in Sydney, having been a foundation member of the GWS Giants, where he played two seasons before heading to Collingwood at the end of 2013.
Also reuniting with former Magpies teammate Brodie Grundy, Adams was excited for the opportunity up north to help nurture a budding Swans side and get the most out of the back-end of his career.
“I’ll be forever grateful for my opportunity to play in such a great football side (at Collingwood) and for such a great coach. But I thought, you know what, let’s go learn something new and meet some new people,” Adams added.
“Different city, out of my comfort zone, away from the comforts of being an AFL player in Melbourne provides. It’s been a challenging transition, but I feel like it’s been a really smart decision for my football career and it’s given me a lot of life and energy – both at the footy club but also away.
“I just thought it was an absolutely amazing opportunity for me. Yeah, I want to prove some people wrong, but it’s more about proving myself right and proving the people that have supported my right.”
