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.”