HARD-NOSED MAGPIE

Talented Falcon a born leader

HE’S ruthless, hard-nosed and combative. But beneath that rough and tough exterior, there’s a lad with a heart of gold.

It’s the side of Taylor Adams that many don’t see.

“The thing that stands out, and still to this day, is he’s just such a fantastic person,” declared Aaron Greaves, Adams’ coach at the Geelong Falcons.

“His care for everyone else is just so high. That’s what makes him such a great leader and that’s why his teammates love to play for him.

“He just wants to do things for other people.

“From day one, every player at that level has talent and aspirations to play at a high level, but he’s always been such a great person who cares so much about everybody else.

“He’s always been so loyal to his mates.”

In Greaves’ eyes, Adams is the soldier who will lead you into the trenches.

He’ll pick you up when you fall down.

He’ll go into bat for his team, no matter how dire the circumstance, and fly the flag.

“He’s prepared to do whatever it takes,” Greaves said of the Collingwood vice-captain who will lead his side into today’s Grand Final against West Coast.

“If he’s needed to go and work on his sprint training, he’s gone and done that. If he needs to work on his finishing, he’s gone and done that.

“He’s grown at every contest and his competitive work is such a weapon in the AFL now.”

Greaves, who coached Adams in his formative years at St Joseph’s Football Club before mentoring him at the Falcons in 2010 and 2011, knew at an early age that the on-baller was destined for the AFL.

“What set him apart was his contest work,” said Greaves, the new head of development at North Melbourne.

“He was tougher and harder than most kids. He won a lot of contested footy and got the ball outside to his teammates.

“But what people and recruiters see when you sit back and watch Taylor play, is his leadership and his ability to see the game and set guys up around him.

“Good trait or not, he’s always first in to stick up for everyone else and you can see he just wanted to lead his team.

“The thing that stood out was he was prepared to lead from the front with his actions in a contest, which all your teammates love, and then he was the first one to share in the success of others.”

DRAFTED with pick 13 in the 2011 national draft, Adams joined close mate and fellow Falcon Devon Smith in heading to Greater Western Sydney.

He would play 31 games for the Giants before being coaxed by Nathan Buckley — Adams’ Vic Country under-16s coach — to join Collingwood at the end of 2013.

“You sit back and you’re really proud to see how his career has unfolded,” Greaves said.

“To see him not only playing, but leading the way that you knew he could, is fantastic. The actions and traits that you see now is exactly what he did at junior level and with the Falcons.

“He’s always been a great learner and a great talent who had real spirit and passion for the game.

“Through my time I’ve seen players like Taylor Adams, Jack Viney and Ollie Wines and there’s just something about their competitiveness and their ruthlessness at the contest.

“Taylor’s had to work hard on part of his game, but from a young age he’s shown he’s been prepared to do absolutely anything to become elite and be a successful AFL player.

“That’s why you sit back and be very proud because you know he’s done everything possible to put himself in the position he’s in today.”

ADAMS was always a natural- born leader.

As the Falcons’ skipper in 2010, the nuggety midfielder had an innate ability to drive a team and its standards. Much of it comes from his desire to perform and his will to succeed, traits ingrained in him early in his football life. “I was lucky to have some great coaches through my junior days,” Adams said at the Holden Centre this week. “Aaron Greaves was one, and the best thing about Aaron is he’s a real modern coach. “He gave us a real insight into what AFL coaches would be like and he was a great mentor for me in my top-age years at the Falcons.

“Mick Turner was awesome. He was a great support and he’s still there now doing a fantastic job.

“It feels like an eternity ago, those games at the Falcons.”

Now, seven years into his professional career and on the eve of the biggest match of his life, Adams attributes a bulk of his success to one man: Nathan Buckley.

“He’s been Adams said.

“He’s been really influential in the way I’ve developed as a footballer and a person. awesome,”

“The way he’s handled himself over the last few years, he’s shown real strength and he’s a pretty impressive man.

“He was really under real pressure last year and he held together better than most would have.

“I’ve got a great relationship with Bucks now and with most of the coaching staff.

“We’ve built a culture at the footy club where we get along really well, we really care about each other.

“And it’s not just about playing footy, it’s about getting to know each other off the field.

“We learn about each other, get around each other and enjoy each other’s company. It’s been one of the really big improvements from last year.”

FROM the depths of despair and a near sacking, coach of the year Buckley has lifted Collingwood to within a whisker of a record-equalling 16th VFL-AFL premiership.

Adams has been one of the beneficiaries of Buckley’s more relaxed, happy-golucky coaching style.

And in many respects, Adams and Buckley are cut from the same cloth.

“The way he went about his footy is similar to the way