WITH HEART OF GOLD
I go about mine,” Adams said. “He used to empty out on the training track and I try to do the same.
“In terms of leadership he was captain of a successful side back in his day and he’s developed as a leader and I think I’ve done the same.
“There’s little things that he’s taught me along the way, but I’ve had a lot of help from a lot of people.
“Scott Burns, who was here last year, Robert Harvey and (Garry) “Buddha” Hocking, who has been a great influence on my career in a short period of time.
“I’m really lucky that I’m surrounded by great people and great coaches and I’m blessed in that sense.”
It’s no coincidence that Adams is also in the form of his life.
Averaging a career-high 26 disposals a game, the inand-under ball winner has taken his game to another level.
“My body feels really good and I’m confident in my ability to perform in big games and big finals,” he said.
“I was really pleased with my last 15 games of footy.
“I started the season slow, but now I feel I’m building and playing career-best footy.
“I feel like I can contribute and play my role for the team and that’s all I can do.” Adams’ performance against Richmond in the preliminary final was off the charts.
He collected 36 disposals against the reigning premier, 20 of which were contested.
“He’s played some very good games, but I don’t think he’s played a better game than that,” Falcons’ regional manager Mick Turner said.
“He was unbelievably good with 30-odd possessions and defensively he was outstanding with his pressure and his tackles.
“He was the same when he played with us.
“He was our captain and he led by example.”
TURNER, who has watched Adams’ career unfold with interest from afar, lauded the 24-year-old’s resilience, having endured tough years at the developing Giants and seasons of upheaval at Collingwood.
Adams also found the going tough at the Falcons.
“The year that Greavesy was with us, we made the finals, but Oakleigh belted us in one of the finals,” Turner said.
“But the thing that I admired about Tay and also Devon Smith is they kept going 100 miles an hour even though we were under the pump.
“Tay’s just one of those super competitive players.” Not overly endowed with pace, Adams has grown into one of the competition’s finest ball winners, demonstrated by his standing as the No. 1 player for pressure acts in the finals series.
“These kids need a hell of a lot to go right to play at the elite level and he’s at the very top of the elite,” Turner said.
“They’ve got to be good athletes, and I don’t know if Tay’s a great athlete, but he’s built up his endurance at Collingwood.
“He’s not the quickest player going around, but he makes up for that in many other ways.
“He’s a great ball-getter, he’s great defensively and he’s a good decision maker. His kicking is generally pretty good, he can spray a kick now and again, but everyone does at that level because you’re under so much pressure.
“The thing that makes him such an outstanding player is his attitude.
“He’s got that killer desire to be successful and he can mentally push himself to the absolute limit.
“You can be a great athlete, you can get the ball and you can be a decision maker, but the thing that drives the elite players is their attitude and he’s just got that super competitive nature to be successful and get the most out of himself.”
TODAY, the boy from Mt Duneed has an opportunity to fulfil a lifelong dream: to lift the premiership cup.
The Magpies have come from the clouds, rising from 13th last season to a top-four berth and a free hit at the Grand Final.
It’s caught many by surprise, even Adams.
“I didn’t look this far ahead, no, and I probably didn’t see us going this far,” Adams said.
“But once we started getting on a roll after Round 2, I felt like the footy we were playing would stack up against anyone and it would stack up in finals.
“I’ve always known we’ve had a talented list and we’ve had some hurdles this year.
“We’ve had many guys go down with injury, we lost Goldy (Tyson Goldsack) before the season started, we’ve lost (Matt) Scharenberg, Lynden Dunn, we lost (Adam) Treloar for a bit, we haven’t seen Jamie Elliott, Darcy Moore and Alex Fasolo anywhere near as much as we’d like and Tim Broomhead broke his leg.
“So there were some real hurdles for us to get over, and as we’ve built momentum, I’ve always felt that the only thing that would stop us is ourselves.
“I had real confidence in the way we were playing, in our game style and in the way we were coached and the belief in the group just grew and grew.
“We’re here now and we couldn’t be anymore confident going into the weekend.”
By five o’clock today, Adams could be standing on the dais as a Collingwood premiership player.
To be truthful, he can’t stop thinking about it. To him, “it’s everything”.
“It’s probably the only thing that I really wanted when I walked in these doors. We’ve been starved of finals action in the last four or five years, but we’re here now,” he said.
“There’s four more quarters left for the year and we’ve got a great opportunity to hold up a cup.
“It would mean a hell of a lot to us and the people that helped us get here.”