The small forward had left Australia confident that his future was sound at the Brisbane Lions after a positive meeting with new coach and former teammate Michael Voss. But a call from his manager changed all that.
"I had a meeting with 'Vossy' before I left for the UK and I found out while I was over there that they were going to trade me," Corrie told collingwoodfc.com.au, from the club's training camp in Arizona this week.
"The meeting was just: 'where do we go from here?' and stuff like that. He didn't give any indication that I was leaving.
"I didn't know that until I got over there, and then [manager] Alex [McDonald] rang me and said that the Lions wanted to help me find a new home."
The 24-year-old said the news was initially devastating but he soon realised that being traded was a fact of life for many players.
"[The Lions] did the right thing by me by putting me up in trade week, which was good by them, and thankfully Collingwood put their hands up," he said.
"Collingwood offered me a chance and I just said, 'No worries'. I really didn't want to sit around and wait for the draft."
Corrie said he harboured no grudge against either Voss or the Lions."I respect 'Vossy', and it's his call at the end of the day because he's the coach," Corrie said.
"It hasn't affected our friendship; it's just business, I guess. He just wanted to go a different way, and I just didn't fit into the mould that he wants to build.
"There's no hard feelings at all."
Corrie is super keen to repay the Magpies for their faith, having fully recovered from the knee injury that wrecked his 2007 season.
"I think I'm the best I've been in six years, because my weight is down and I'm trying to put on a bit of muscle. I'm over the knee and I'm having a good pre-season too," he said.
"I'm excited because it's a new club, it's a fresh start, and I want to open up my career even wider.
"I hope the move will open more doors, and now I'm just focused on repaying their faith after they put their hand up for me.
"I played 20 out of 22 games last year after having a knee reconstruction, which was a credit to me and the club thought that as well."
Although currently enduring the hard yards in the Pies' pre-season high altitude camp, Corrie can already see beyond the summer months and into the home-and-away season.
"It's awesome that I'll get to play on the MCG more, and I think we only travel about four times a year and I'm used to doing it every second week," he said.
"That will be great and something I'm really looking forward to."
Corrie and partner Claire are planning to move to Melbourne full-time after Christmas.
