AFL finals 2021: Western Bulldogs denied chance to train before their preliminary final

The Bulldogs will be allowed to leave their hotel and gain access to Adelaide Oval on Saturday but they say it’s too late. Here’s the latest on SA Health’s ruling.

Adam Treloar has a big opportunity on Saturday night. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

The Western Bulldogs have been denied a crucial training session in Adelaide ahead of Saturday night’s preliminary final.

The South Australian government blocked the club’s request to have a Friday hitout in preparation for the battle against Port Adelaide.

Bulldogs coach said the Covid-19-driven decision was “unreasonable” but his side had no other option than to “laugh it off”.

The Bulldogs had wanted to train at Adelaide Oval on Friday afternoon.

Instead, the Dogs will be allowed to leave their Adelaide hotel and gain access to Adelaide Oval on Saturday — but the club considered this option too late to have a decent captain’s run.

No AFL club has a training sessions or match simulation on the day of a game.

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Western Bulldogs will not be able to train in South Australia. Picture: Getty Images

Having been tested for Covid-19 14 times in the past month, and coming from non-Covid hot spots in Tasmania, Queensland and now Western Australia, Beveridge said: “I think we’re negative.”

The Bulldogs nightmare itinerary suffered another twist on Friday when they were stranded at Perth airport for an extra 57 minutes before takeoff and then their flight lost another 10 minutes in the air.

While acknowledging the pandemic was a serious situation, he said all he and his players could do was laugh at the latest situation that would add “extra motivation” to their cause.

“Usually, what we do is we land and go and have our last training session. The SA health officer hasn’t allowed us to do that today, which isn’t ideal,” Beveridge said on Friday.

“We have almost a three-hour flight and then we are not allowed to stretch our legs and get moving again. We won’t be able to do that until we maybe go for a walk at lunchtime the next day.

“After we get tested again tonight, I think that will be our 14th Covid test in 25 days. I’m pretty sure we are negative. It’s a really strange one for us.

“We just deal with it comically. The pandemic is serious, we know that, but this one is unreasonable, so all you can do is laugh at it. You let that wry grin emerge on your face and have a little bit of a chuckle and move on.”

Port clash is make or break for messy Treloar trade

There is nothing worse than being that person on the receiving end of a “I told you so”.

Adam Treloar would have been feeling all sorts of different emotions on Saturday night after the Western Bulldogs extraordinary one-point semi-final victory over Brisbane.

On the surface he would have done his best to celebrate with his teammates but deep down he’d have known he’d just played one of the worst games of his career.

Adam Treloar has a big opportunity on Saturday night. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

And even more frustrating for him, he just provided ammunition to many at his former club who have been secretly hoping the controversial move to the Dogs didn’t become a stunning success.

Collingwood told Treloar when they forced him out the door because of a salary cap squeeze that they questioned whether mentally he could handle being separated from his partner and baby daughter for the 2021 season.

It was messy from the Pies and they rightly got cooked for it, but the gun midfielder’s sometimes fragile mental state was put on the table as a factor for his exit.

Treloar’s fiance Kim Ravaillion and 18-month old daughter Georgie have been in Queensland this year as she resurrected her netball career.

Adam Treloar with daughter Georgie and partner Kim Ravallion.

The couple were determined to make the long-distance relationship work but a serious early-season ankle injury combined with Covid-19 border restrictions have made it harder than even Treloar could have imagined.

On Saturday night he looked distracted, disinterested, confused, sad and helpless in the biggest game he’d played for his new club.

There was a suggestion he might have even been sooking because of a lack of centre square action.

Whatever the reasons, it was hard to watch.

His 10 possessions was the lowest total for Treloar since the eighth game of his career in Round 12, 2012, where he only touched the ball six times against Richmond.

Ironically on the same night in Brisbane, Ravaillion was across the other side of town collecting the MVP award for the Queensland Firebirds.

Adam Treloar, centre, celebrates the Bulldogs finals win over Brisbane with Bailey Smith and Lachie Hunter, despite producing one of the poorest performances of his career.

Her return to netball had been a stunning success and she admitted it had been tougher on Treloar.

“Obviously for Adam it’s a lot harder for him being away from his daughter and it’s just an emotional rollercoaster for him,” Ravaillion told RSN.

“I guess he’s lucky he has the distraction of footy but even in football you can have a good game or a bad game and that affects you. So he has got to deal with life and footy at the same time.”

The optimistic view for the Bulldogs is it’s a one-off and the previous week in the elimination final against Essendon the prized recruit had 28 possessions and stood up when it mattered in the second half.

While it’s not a matter of proving anyone wrong or sending an up yours to the Magpies, there is a lot riding on what happens against Port Adelaide.

With the prospect of captain Marcus Bontempelli’s knee injury forcing him to spend less time in the midfield, the stage will be presented to Treloar to make his mark.

And whether he likes it or not, whether it’s fair or not, how he plays on Saturday night will become the narrative for the whole messy trade saga.

Originally published as AFL finals 2021: Western Bulldogs denied chance to train before their preliminary final