Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says the club was forced to drive Adam Treloar and Jaidyn Stephenson out of the club due to their ongoing salary cap problems.
Treloar, Stephenson, Tom Phillips and Atu Bosenavulagi were all traded by the Magpies in what Buckley described as the “toughest day” in his football career.
“Yes, we had to (drive them out), we had to,” Buckley told SEN’s Whateley.
“The conversations were pretty short and sharp and for a varying number of reasons – some inside of their control and some with absolutely nothing to do with those individuals.
“We needed to make those decisions and force those outcomes. There was a forced element to it, and it’s been on the cards for probably the last three or four years.
“We decided to keep the group together as much as possible and that required us to push back these cap issues – for right or for wrong – and there’s a lot of things that have come to pass in the last 12-24 months that have brought these decisions forward.
“We felt that this was the time that we needed to stop pushing out pain into the future and take it all in one gulp now.”
Buckley said trading Treloar to the Western Bulldogs with five years to run on his contract was ultimately a “business decision”.
“As soon as we determined that this was the way we were going to go, I didn’t think it was going to be pretty,” he said.
“Adam’s a heart and soul person. My personal relationship with him is important to me. We’re really close but obviously it’s strained at the moment and the dust is yet to settle on that.
“This is a break-up. This is something that he was aware of 12 months ago that became more real and it’s been difficult – difficult for him and difficult for us as a football club.
“But it was a business decision, unfortunately.
“The leaders were aware of decision that the list management group had made soon after the season. It was done to be able to provide genuine support and to have a knowledge of what Adam was facing.
"There was one element of specific on-field feedback that I gave Adam in the early stages immediately after the season which related to on-field connection and that came through reviews from the last couple of years. It was something that he understood.
“Potentially those two things put together were perceived as your teammates don’t support you or don’t want you at the football club – and clearly there’s something in my communication that has failed there for Adam to feel that (not wanted).
“I needed to be better in that regard.”
Buckley also explained how Stephenson’s situation played out after the forward told SEN Drive that he called the Magpies coach to clarify whether he was up for trade.
“This is the reason they have managers, to manage their football and professional affairs,” he said.
“That was communicated – the concept of exploring a trade for Jaidyn who had a couple of years to run on his contract.
“That concept was floated through our list management crew with his management. Jaidyn was aware in his exit (meeting) that there was a possibility that we would explore that.
“The call that he gave to me was two weeks later in the middle of the trade period which was basically he wanted to confirm is this what I was looking for?
“I had to be clear to him that this was where the football club needs to go, if you’ve got an opportunity to go elsewhere, I would take it.
“And that’s where that conversation came about. Jaidyn called me but he was aware of his situation through his management before that.”