Collingwood vice-captain Taylor Adams has responded to criticism from some quarters about how the club approached last Friday night’s clash against former Pies player Adam Treloar.
The on-baller joined Western Bulldogs following an off-season which saw him depart in controversial circumstances, with the Round 1 clash marking the first time Treloar had faced off against his former club.
Tyler Brown was seen shaking hands with his old teammate before the match, with some questioning the lack of on-field aggression towards him.
Adams said he understood the type of emotions the 28-year-old would’ve been feeling coming up against his old side, saying he disagreed with some of the commentary earlier in the week.
“I’ve moved clubs (before) and know the anxiety that comes with playing against your old team,” he said on Sportsday.
“I did see some of the scrutiny and particular with Tyler Brown starting on the wing, everyone has opinions and football has changed a lot. There’s a lot of player movement these days.
“For anyone that knows Tyler Brown, that’s the sort of person that he is. He’s a really quiet and caring guy and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say a bad word about anyone so for people to judge what he did and say it gave Adam (Treloar) an upper hand, it’s something I don’t agree with.
“It wasn’t the reason we lost the game, if you know anything about football you can go and rewatch the tape and you can see we were just completely outworked and that wasn’t because Adam Treloar was wearing red, white and blue."
Collingwood is currently preparing for Thursday night’s blockbuster against Carlton at the MCG, with upwards of 75,000 fans expected following the easing of COVID restrictions ahead of Round 2.