AFL 2022: Taylor Adams opens up on difficult 2021 season and Magpies’ game plan under new coach Craig McRae

Taylor Adams says Collingwood needed change when Craig McRae took over from Nathan Buckley. He opens up on that and his frustrating 2021 campaign.

Taylor Adams was ready for new ideas at Collingwood.

The Magpies knew they had to revamp the way they moved the ball into attack to help score more and on a personal level, Adams had been frustrated by a recurring 2021 knee injury which had begun to eat away at his confidence.

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Adams, 28, has long been one of Nathan Buckley’s biggest fans since the former coach brought the hard nut midfielder across to Collingwood from GWS Giants.

But in the six months since Craig McRae has stepped into Olympic Park, a youthful exuberance has filtered through Collingwood.

About half the list is under the age of 22, there’s excitement about the new ball movement strategies and a connectedness with the new coaching setup.

Taylor Adams congratulates teammates during Collingwood’s clash with Richmond at the MCG in July 2021.

The clean slate was a timely move, Adams said.

“The way the players have embraced the changes probably shows that we were ready for something new,” Adams said.

“The players really trust the new coaching group and that is shown by the way we have trained and the way we have prepared. How engaged we are in meetings.

“Now, that is expected of us as athletes, but the guys have really enjoyed the preseason and have enjoyed the setup and have enjoyed the new style of game play.

“I mean, who doesn’t like scoring?”

It has been a problem which has dogged the Magpies since the 2018 Grand Final when Adams, one of the competition’s most courageous onballers, finished second in the Norm Smith Medal voting.

Last season, as the wheels fell off Buckley’s team following a disastrous trade period the year before, Collingwood had the third-worst attack, and an uncontested gamestyle which no longer served the injury-hit side.

But the change is on. Under McRae, Collingwood wants to be more direct, more contested, perhaps even more bold to find his forwards in more one-on-one situations.

Playmaker Patrick Lipinski, from the Western Bulldogs, and jet youngster Nick Daicos have joined the midfield fray, inspirational captain Scott Pendlebury will use his sublime delivery to help direct ball use across half back and De Goey will start the season in large chunks forward.

Of course, the Pies want the pressure to be through the roof, and the signs were positive in the preseason loss to GWS.

Scott Pendlebury and Jordan De Goey celebrate a Collingwood goal against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in May 2021. Picture: Michael Klein

But Adams said there was an appetite to hit the scoreboard more this year as they attempt to make up some ground on the top sides.

“The more attacking brand of football is where the whole competition is going,” he said.

“We saw Melbourne win a premiership in about 10 minutes of football where they kicked that string of goals, so you have clearly got to be able to defend, but the really good teams are the ones who are also trying to score more.

“We are looking forward to implementing that in our game style.”

Rather than chip sideways and come back across the ground, the Pies will be more inclined to kick up the line, and back their stoppage winners, such as Adams, De Goey and youngster Daicos.

The keepings-off stuff is out.

Perhaps this suits Adams who in 2018 was seventh for clearances with a career-high 143 for the year. In 2020 he was All-Australian.

But last year he suffered dual medial ligament injuries which hobbled the Geelong Falcons’ product on the field and sidelined him for 11 games.

He could have had surgery, which requires three to four months of recovery time, but instead opted for the injury to heal more naturally.

Regardless, he was keen to put 2021 behind him, as the winds of change swept through the club.

Taylor Adams has worked hard during the 2022 pre-season under new coach Craig McRae.

“Coming off my knee last year I lost a lot of confidence in myself, and I wasn’t playing my best footy towards the end of the year after being All Australian in 2020,” he said.

“So the confidence took a bit of a hit there and I was pretty keen to get in on the first day of preseason just find my way.

“So that’s why I really embraced the change. Everyone started on a level playing field and I was really keen to hear new ideas and experience new voices and learn new things.”

Getting his body right was an absolute priority and despite a little hamstring niggle the signs have been positive, with Adams slashing his sprint times over summer.

As part of The Speed Project, Adams wanted to get faster over short distances in particular.

“My goal was to improve my 0-10m and 0-20m times and I was able to shave off 0.3 or 0.4 of a second in both of these, so it was good,” he said.

“It was something different, and I haven’t done much speed training before, but I think it had a great benefit coming back to preseason and correlating with training.

“It was an unreal summer and I’m feeling as good as I have for 18 months.

“Last year I missed I think 11 games and we weren’t playing as well as we wanted to and I wasn’t contributing the way I wanted to.

“But I have been able to reset and I have had some great conversations with the coaches and Jarrad (Kay) from The Speed Project has really helped me get my mojo back.”

Collingwood’s top draft pick Nick Daicos during the 2022 pre-season.

What is ahead for Collingwood in 2022 is really anyone’s guess as the young team tries to make up ground on the rest of the league as quick as it can.

One day, Adams wants to lift up that premiership cup after coming so close in 2018.

“We are working our way to get better every single day so we can bridge that gap between our footy and the best teams’ footy consistently,” Adams said.

“We want Collingwood fans to see our passion right from Round 1.

“This year is not going to be perfect for us, we know that.

“We have spoken about the fact that we are not aiming to be a perfect football team.

“There is real Collingwood DNA that we want to display week in and week out. We put a lot of work in over summer and as individuals and as a team hopefully we can display that for a good chunk of the season.

“Hopefully fans see that we are really hungry.”

Originally published as AFL 2022: Taylor Adams opens up on difficult 2021 season and Magpies’ game plan under new coach Craig McRae