Adam Cooney tries on his new colours after being traded from Western Bulldogs to Essendon

ADAM Cooney says it was “bittersweet” leaving the Western Bulldogs but there was never any doubt in his mind Essendon was his club of choice.

AFL TRADING DAY

ADAM Cooney says it was “bittersweet” leaving the Western Bulldogs but there was never any doubt in his mind Essendon was his club of choice.

The Brownlow medallist was also sought after by North Melbourne in a last gasp bid to replace Levi Greenwood, traded to Collingwood for pick 25.

But Cooney said the opportunity to play at a big club in front of big crowds was too good to pass up.

“It was bittersweet but I think probably for both parties (it was) best I sort of move on and fast track the development of some of the kids at the Bulldogs open up a couple spots in the midfield,” Cooney said.

The dashing midfielder said he made up his mind to leave after meeting with former Bulldogs coach Brendon McCartney and list manager Jason McCartney at the end of the season.

“Had a really good chat about where I was at and we both parties felt change was probably needed to get the best out of myself for the remainder of my career.”

Cooney said a fruitful face-to-face meeting with coach James Hird and acing his medical assessment made the trade possible.

But the seal of approval for Cooney came late on Thursday, when six-year-old son Jax returned from school to find dad posing for a photo in red and black.

“What do you think?” Cooney asked.

“Yeah, I like it dad. I like it!” Jax responded.

It followed a nervous week in the Cooney household with the midfield star initially agreeing to play at North Melbourne, believing his wish of playing for the Bombers was a long shot.

But Cooney — under advice from manager Ricky Olarenshaw — decided to hold out and with less than two hours remaining in trade period a deal was struck.

The Bombers sent pick 37 to Whitten Oval, effectively securing Cooney and pick No.17 for ruckman Paddy Ryder.

And while the Roos offer included injury-plagued speedster Kieran Harper, the silver lining for the Dogs came with confirmation they wouldn’t have to pay any of Cooney’s salary next year.

The 29-year-old is now tied to Essendon for two seasons and the extra pick helped the Dogs secure Sydney’s Shane Biggs.

Adam Cooney with his son, Jax, 6, in the backyard. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Cooney’s wife Haylea — a regular in the Dogs’ cheersquad — is set to sit with the Bombers’ faithful next year after Cooney became the sixth Brownlow Medal winner in 15 years to switch clubs.

He follows Gary Ablett (Gold Coast), Chris Judd (Carlton), Jason Akermanis (Dogs), Shane Woewodin (Collingwood) and Ben Cousins (Richmond).

“The medical was always the question mark, but he flew through that last week,” list manager Adrian Dodoro said.

“Our indoor facility was something he was really impressed with because of the sponginess of the floor, but I’ve got to be honest — it was his relationship with James Hird.

“They really hit it off and he wanted to play for him.”

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While Cooney has struggled to train at times, it is believe Bombers club doctor Bruce Reid was buoyed by the fact the four games Cooney missed last season were with a torn hamstring and not the degenerative knee which has plagued him since 2008.

Dodoro said Cooney had two to three seasons of quality footy left.

After 219 games with the Dogs, Cooney opted for a fresh start, two years after watching best mate Brian Lake cross to Hawthorn and win two premierships and a Norm Smith Medal.

“I sat in (Hird’s) office for about an hour to chat about the club, where it was heading and where I thought I wanted my footy to go,” Cooney told the Dons website.

“What we talked about matched up really well so I built a great rapport with James over that and have been speaking to him over the last week.”

Dogs list manager Jason McCartney said Cooney’s desire to reach Essendon made it tough to deal with the Roos.

“When he’s a contracted player and he makes that decision we had to work around the Essendon deal, which was quite a good deal for us because we kept our next pick,” he said.