Western Bulldogs star Adam Treloar opens up on emotional toll of latest calf injury

In his fourth game for the season, Adam Treloar was left distressed on the bench after suffering another calf injury – but as he reveals, the pain is much deeper than that.

An emotional Adam Treloar has laid bare his extraordinary challenge to play a part in the Dogs finals campaign, desperate to continue an AFL career that dragged him out “poverty” amid a continuing injury crisis.

The Western Bulldogs have said that Treloar will be out for at least six weeks with another calf injury, with the 32-year-old distressed after being injured in his fourth game of the season against Richmond.

Treloar revealed that his diagnosis was 6-8 weeks if everything went to plan, which puts him on the brink of finals.

He told his Ads and Dunks podcast, with good mate and former teammate Josh Dunkley, he had no idea why he continued to battle calf concerns given he had done everything right in rehab and preparation.

Adam Treloar with Tom Liberatore after the injury on Sunday. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

And in action against Liberatore during their junior days in the TAC Cup.

The Dogs would have to make a devilishly difficult decision about whether Treloar was able to get through a game to play him first up in an elimination final.

Treloar, 32, is out of contract and those discussions will likely take place at the back end of the year – but the 2023 All Australian is now considering his football mortality.

“It’s the most emotional I have been post an injury,” he told Dunkley.

“It is a significant injury. I am for quite a bit. Six to eight weeks and that’s obviously all things going well which is basically the regular season. I have worked so very hard all year to get on top of my calves. It’s just been a really challenging couple of days.

“I just had to turn my phone off and gather my thoughts. I have lived and breathed football for my whole life. It’s all I have ever known. And it’s always been something I have been able to go back to when things are hard.”

The 258-game star has often spoken about his humble beginnings as mother Darlene worked hard to make ends meet in Noble Park, at times rationing petrol so she could get him to football training.

“I talk about it being my saving grace,” Treloar said of his career.

“Footy has always been my saving grace. It’s got me out of a life of poverty growing up.

“It’s given me an opportunity to set up my family, meet great people, have great experiences in my life I don’t think I ever would have had and that’s all been thanks to footy.

“To still be as passionate as I am and to still love the game like I do and want to be out there with my teammates and have success with them, to not be out there for reasons you don’t know why …. I don’t know why. I do everything right. I do everything possible for my body. That is where it really hurts me.”

Treloar in full flight against the Saints. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

The Dogs could consider playing Treloar as a sub to lighten the load on his body but have tried everything to prevent soft-tissue injuries.

He barely trained across summer and then when he returned against Port Adelaide in round 8 he was superb with 27 possessions and a goal but pulled up sore and missed the next month.

The Dogs are only a game outside the top four so might hope they can play him in a qualifying final that would give him a week’s rest if they can triumph in that early September clash.

But a player who might have hoped to sign a multi-year contract given his irrepressible form last year might now have to wait until year’s end to see what his future holds.

Originally published as Western Bulldogs star Adam Treloar opens up on emotional toll of latest calf injury