Unrest in Magpies camp as fans want answers with Adam Treloar drama entering its third week
Collingwood fans seem more upset with club’s lack of communication with Adam Treloar than the possibility he might be traded. It’s time the Pies to came clean about the situation, even if they end up keeping Treloar, writes Jon Ralph.
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The greatest problem with marketing slogans like Collingwood’s “Side By Side” is that every now and then your members expect you to live up to them.
Carlton’s 2010 membership slogan of “Can you smell what we’re cooking” at least resulted in a finals appearance, while “Whatever It Takes” defined Essendon’s ugliest era.
As the Adam Treloar saga drags on deep into its third week, it is apparent that Pies fans feel the “Side by Side” mantra is a catchphrase their club isn’t prepared to stand by.
A decade after the Hawthorn fans tried to mutiny over the aborted Campbell Brown trade, most fans are fairly pragmatic about their favourite sons being shipped off elsewhere.
At Richmond Jack Higgins is a cult hero and fan favourite given his quirky nature and recovery from dual brain surgeries but if he can maximise his career at St Kilda, then good on him.
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Yet Collingwood fans believe Adam Treloar deserves better, especially at a club that has coach Nathan Buckley speaking so often about care and authenticity and belonging.
In short, you can’t talk a good game about “Side by Side” — from the lyrics of Good Old Collingwood Forever written by ex-Tom Nelson in 1906 — without living that ethos.
Collingwood is now pitching its potential trade of Treloar to Gold Coast not as a salary dump but a deep abiding care for him.
With partner Kim and daughter Georgie living in Queensland for 10 months it is suggesting he would struggle with the demands so they are prepared to trade him on humanitarian grounds.
Collingwood fans are calling bulldust.
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They see a player who came to them over arch rival Richmond, who pours out his heart and soul on AFL 360 on a weekly basis, who has all the qualities that Buckley seems to value from a teammate.
They see a player who has expressly stated he doesn’t want to move north away from family and friends being pushed out.
They say it all the while knowing Treloar might not be the player to take them to a premiership, because they believe he has been treated poorly.
Left in the dark without answers so the club can maximise its trade haul but have some deniability if it has to keep him on its list.
Collingwood has gone to ground but surely it is time for someone — list manager Ned Guy, Buckley, president Eddie McGuire and chief executive Mark Anderson — to publicly set the record straight for fans.
His manager Tim Hazell is also not commenting, but when he did speak to the Herald Sun a fortnight ago it was apparent Treloar was shattered and disillusioned with the lack of clarity or support.
Those fans want peace of mind that if Treloar is to be traded the Pies will do it with transparency and respect for a favourite son.
Treloar is still every chance to stay because surely the Suns share the Pies’ concerns about using $4 million of cap space on an injury-prone soon-to-be 28-year-old?
If Treloar signs on for five seasons with 110 available home-and-away games what is the over-under on how many games he will play given two hamstring tendon issues in three years and 18 missed games since 2018? Is it 80? 70?
When St Kilda or Collingwood or Hawthorn offer Ben King $8 million over six years midway through the 2022 season, will Treloar’s contract be the impediment to matching it?
And the final question for the Pies — if Collingwood does not believe Treloar is resilient enough to spend a season in a one-year, long-distance relationship, why would a rival absorb all that risk on the deal as well as the cap space?
They are the questions the Suns need to ask, even if the Pies pitch in several hundred thousands dollars per year.
Pies fans know Treloar is not a perfect player but he is their player, one who they have lived with through the highs and lows of torn hamstrings and mental health issues and slip-ups over the Pies’ “better list”.
They know shipping him for pick five is probably the right call.
They just want him to be treated with respect that right now seems to be lacking from a club that has come so far on that score.