Sydney recruit Taylor Adams has articulated the challenges he had leaving former club Collingwood, with the ex-vice-captain “hurt” by the lack of communication from Craig McRae upon his departure last year.
After heartbreakingly missing out on last year’s Magpies premiership through injury, Adams surprisingly requested a trade back to New South Wales – a state he called home for two years at GWS in 2012 and 2013.
His 10 years at the club came to an end on 10 October last year, with Collingwood receiving Pick 33 in last year’s draft for his departure – which they eventually used to pick up young defender Tew Jiath.
Speaking on the Unlaced Podcast, a transparent Adams took was somewhat unimpressed at his old club and their tentativeness to have constant dialogue with him.
“I was pretty disappointed by the feedback and the transparency that I got from Collingwood throughout the year,” Adams opened the topic by saying.
“In a nice way, they phased me out and it felt a lot like that – I ended up meeting with John (Longmire) and the Swans on the Wednesday, and was transparent with John and said, ‘Look, my preferred route is to not move but I’ve got to make a decision in my head because footy doesn’t last forever and I feel like I’ve got some more to offer’.
“I then met with ‘Wrighty’ (Graeme Wright) and ‘Fly’ (McRae) on the Thursday and Fly basically said, ‘Nothing is going to really change next year, we think you do a great job in the role that you’re playing’, and I thought to be honest, he was blowing wind up my arse.”
Beyond his meeting with McRae five days out from his eventual trade, the 30-year-old didn’t hear from his coach again – but importantly noted that there were no lingering feeling of angst towards him, nor his former club of a decade.
“I had to make a decision with my head and I actually didn’t hear from ‘Fly’ at all again, which hurt me,” Adams explained.
“He should have called me and had the hard conversation, but I can understand why he didn’t as he just won a flag, had a baby – there was a lot going on, I don’t have any hard feelings about it.”
Emotions were naturally high at the time of Adams’ trade, after succumbing to a hamstring strain via a collision with teammate John Noble at training – with the incident ultimately ruling him out of the Grand Final.
Subsequently, he would never play for the black and white again – pulling up less than a week short of appearing in the Grand Final against Brisbane, that his side won by four points.
“From when I got injured to missing out (on the premiership) and having to deal with the emotions of that, that was the most difficult period of my life,” Adams said.
“I felt like I had been cheated a little bit, I tried to look for the reasons why and I couldn’t think why it had happened this time. To play every game bar a suspension and then fall short two weeks before and miss out on the ultimate prize ….
“I needed five more days. I wasn’t going to run out there and test my hammy on Grand Final day. You just know. I wasn’t right. There was no way I was going to put a team in jeopardy.”
Adams has won all three of his games at the Swans in 2024 since jumping ship, after successfully returning from a ligament strain in his knee earlier in the year.
He is set to face off against his old side the Giants this weekend at the SCG, in his second-ever Sydney derby, and first since Round 16, 2013.
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