Collingwood list manager Graham Wright has offered insight into Taylor Adams' decision to request a trade away from the Magpies, as well as their plans to replace him if a trade agreement is reached.
The 30-year-old, who still has one year remaining on his current Collingwood contract, requested a trade to the Sydney Swans in recent days, understood to have cited a decrease in midfield minutes since Tom Mitchell's 2022 arrival from Hawthorn.
Adams heartbreakingly missed out on Collingwood's premiership triumph over the Brisbane Lions; missing the all-important fixture due to an ill-timed hamstring injury.
Addressing the media on Monday morning at Marvel Stadium, Wright detailed the current situation regarding Adams' movement request.
"We had some good conversations at the back end of last week," Wright started. "He's a contracted player, he's requested a trade to Sydney so we'll work through that over the next few days.
"He's gone overseas at the moment, [he] informed us yesterday, so we'll see how we go.
"He would've been in our Grand Final team if he was fit and available, obviously the injury kept him out of that, there's a little bit of all that in there, I think, no doubt.
"He's got one year to go on his contract and he'd like to play more midfield time ... We see him as a part of what we're doing going forward, obviously he knows that, but he's still requested a trade."
Wright detailed the timeline of Adams' request, as well as whether he had an inkling that it was potentially on its way.
"He asked to catch up with us on Wednesday last week, so that was the first we knew that he was weighing this up," Wright continued.
"No (I didn't have an inkling), I think all players have got a right to explore [their opportunities] and there's only a certain amount of time [spent] in the game.
"He's contracted, so from our perspective, we were okay with that, we're pretty pragmatic and real about it [and] we had some good conversations."
Asked if the Magpies will drive a hard bargain in trade conversations around Adams due to his current contract status, Wright all but confirmed they would, adding Collingwood's belief that Adams is a 'required' player.
"Yeah, we'd like to think so (driving a hard bargain)," Wright said.
"Taylor's part of our leadership group, as I said, [he] would've been in our Grand Final team, he's been vice-captain of the club, so from our perspective, we see him as a required player. We'll have conversations with Sydney and see where it goes."
Wright also discussed potential contingency plans if Adams does ultimately depart Olympic Park.
"Yeah, it's a good question," Wright began. "We've probably just got to get through this initial part (trade talks) with Sydney and see where that goes, and then we'll make a decision, but we've got some other young guys coming through that we want to give opportunity to as well.
"Taylor's more than a depth player to us; he's in our best 23, we feel like we've got some young guys that deserve [some] opportunity as well, but, as I said, Taylor's part of our leadership group and we see him [as] a part of what we're doing."
The trade period concludes on Wednesday, October 18 at 7:30 PM (AEDT).