"But they were adamant on moving me on so no matter how they were going to go about it,it was going to happen. It was a fight up until the end,because I wanted to be at Collingwood."
While he admitted their trade period fire sale could have been better explained to supporters,Anderson,the club's top executive,also backed the football's department's decisions during the off-season.
"I understand this reaction,as not all that we are attempting to do has been obvious or well explained,"Anderson wrote,adding a members forum would be held before the end of the year."
Anderson said along with now having access to free agents because of cap space and targetting high quality talent in the draft,the club would also improve from within thanks to players like Isaac Quaynor,Josh Daicos,Brayden Sier,Will Kelly,Mark Kean and Tyler and Callum Brown.
"Being realistic about the future was also something we felt was required. Despite the fantastic elimination final win only a few weeks ago in Perth,we fell well short in our semi-final against the Cats the following week,"Anderson wrote."The unflattering result was not a reflection of our season but it could not be ignored,either.
"We believed that we could stay in and around the mark for some time but knew that to maximise our opportunity to win the premiership and build a sustainable future,really difficult decisions were required.
"We are confident of taking an even stronger hand than we currently have to next month's AFL national draft."
The Age reported on Saturday that thePies could try to use their extra first-round pick this year or a future first-round selection to move up the 2020 draft order.
He said the club had a responsibility to players not to discuss specifics during trade period but the club will consider ways to improve following member angst and feedback this week.
"We will continue to communicate with you as we lead into the national draft and beyond,as we build towards round one. Your support is greatly valued."
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Pies supporters on Friday started apetition to try and"hold the president,coach and board accountable"following the trade period. It so far has more than 1000 signatures.
The Pies hold picks 14,16,65,70,75 and 92 at this year's draft and should select highly rated prospect Nick Daicos at the 2021 draft as a father-son.