Daniel Wells has grudgingly admitted what many already knew to be fact: he wasn't in the best shape when he arrived at Collingwood.
The Pies raised eyebrows when they lured the talented but injury-prone midfielder from North Melbourne with a lucrative three-year deal at the end of last season.
Wells, who turned 32 in February, played 19 games for the Roos last year but was restricted to 12 games in the two years prior by a calf injury.
He suffered another calf injury soon after he arrived at Collingwood and only made his club debut in round five.
"There was a little bit in it," Wells said of speculation he had arrived at his new club overweight.
"I had a couple of trips overseas and probably didn't have the opportunity to actually do much training.
"And I was a bit sore from finishing off that (2016) season. There's no excuses, every player needs to come back in good shape, but I suppose that's what the pre-season is for as well."
Wells denied he had arrived so badly underdone that he had let himself and his new teammates down.
"I wouldn't say it really went that far, but I came back and worked really hard to get back into good shape," Wells told Fox Footy's On The Couch.
"It doesn't take me long so I was pretty confident."
Wells departed North of his own volition, while Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito and Nick Dal Santo were sensationally moved on.
He denied the shock cull had been a factor in his decision to seek a trade.
"There was a couple of things involved but there was nothing nasty about it," he said.
"I left the club on pretty good terms. Just a bit of a change, a good opportunity and also the three-year (contract) probably helped push me over the line.
"I think every player's got their own journey to partake in and I can't rely on other people to make my decisions. So it was purely something separate from those guys.
"It was a tough decision for the club but one they probably had to make in hindsight."
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