COLLINGWOOD midfielder Taylor Adams has played down a fiery clash with former teammate Toby Greene during Saturday night's semi-final at the MCG.
Adams exchanged tense words with Greene after the final siren, with the pair already clashing on numerous occasions throughout Collingwood's thrilling 10-point win.
Greene was later fined $2500 for striking Adams during the second quarter, while the Magpies midfielder was also forced to fork out $2500 for his part in a half-time melee.
The pair had been teammates for two years at Greater Western Sydney, before Adams returned to Victoria to play for Collingwood at the end of the 2013 season.
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However, Adams said there was no bad blood with the controversial Giants forward, despite their confrontation.
Greene had been held to just nine disposals on a frustrating night at the MCG, failing to hit the scoreboard after he was marked out of the game by Brayden Maynard.
The Collingwood youngster had made headlines during the week following his pre-match comments about the looming duel with Greene, but walked the walk at the MCG.
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"He's one of my best mates," Adams told reporters on Monday.
"I love the bloke. He didn't have his best day by his standards – and he'd admit that – but I spoke to him on Saturday night. All I said was bad luck and that you'll be back bigger and better next year. I have an enormous amount of respect for the guy.
"The job that Brayden Maynard did on him was fantastic. But I think the whole team contributed to helping him out and being able to slow their ball movement down.
"It was tough after the game, seeing of my best mates really upset. It was a bit of a bittersweet feeling after the game. But he'll be fine and we're fine."
After 31 games with GWS to start his career, Adams has been forced to wait until his fifth season at Collingwood to take part in his first finals campaign.
However, the heartbreak his former side has suffered recently has made the 24-year-old appreciate the significance of qualifying for a preliminary final.
"I've learnt over the last month how hard it is to get to where we are," Adams said.
"To see them lose two preliminary finals in the last couple of years, I don't play there but I still really hurt for them.
"I'm under no illusions as to what we've achieved so far this year, but our mentality has been 'we're not done yet'. We've got eight more quarters of footy to get through before we reach our final goal."
