Former Collingwood star Adam Treloar has today confirmed that Nathan Buckley did tell him that senior players at the club wanted him gone.
The gun ball winner was on Thursday moved to the Western Bulldogs minutes before the trade deadline on a day when the Pies also parted with Jaidyn Stephenson, Tom Phillips and Atu Bosenavulagi.
It ended one of the most widely speculated storylines of the AFL trade period as Collingwood offloaded a large sum of money from its tight salary cap.
SEN's Sam Edmund broke the story last week that Buckley called Treloar and told him that the core of senior players at the Pies dinโt want him at the club anymore.
โWhat we can say as absolute fact is Nathan Buckley had a phone conversation with Adam Treloar last week where he told him that Collingwoodโs more senior players didnโt want him around the club anymore," Edmund said on AFL Trade Radioโs Trade Afternoons.
โWe were wondering how Collingwood would seek to pour more pressure on forcing Adam Treloar out โ now we have our answer.
โNow theyโre telling him his teammates want him out, which I find staggering as heโs a very popular player at that football club.โ
Buckley refuted such claims afterwards, saying the story was 'news to him'.
"โAbsolute factโ...news to me Sam," Buckley tweeted at the time.
"The constant rumour and innuendo is disrespectful to Adam, the club and our supporters. Weโll continue to communicate directly and sensitively with Adz and his management.
"FYI, our leaders donโt sit on list management, itโs not their job."
โAbsolute factโ...news to me Sam.
The constant rumour and innuendo is disrespectful to Adam, the club and our supporters.
Weโll continue to communicate directly and sensitively with Adz and his management.
FYI, our leaders donโt sit on list management, itโs not their job.
— Nathan Buckley (@ncb_cfc) November 2, 2020
However, speaking to reporters today for the first time as a Bulldogs player, Treloar confirmed that Buckley did in fact inform him that the Collingwood players wanted him out.
โYeah it is what you read โ that was told to me in no uncertain way,โ he said on Friday morning.
โThat did hurt because I know how close I am with the players. To be told that when I donโt think thatโs the truth and to be told that when I know the majority of players love me, that hurts a bit.
โI guess they were adamant on moving me on. No matter how they were going to go about it, it was going to happen.
โIโve spoken to a number of players and the majority of players have sent me messages of love and support. I donโt think that was the truth, I donโt think that was the reality.
โI think they were up for a fight to move me on and anything was going to be said to move me on. I didnโt think that was the truth.โ
According to Treloar, Nathan Buckley DID tell him players didnโt want him at the club next year.
โI donโt think that was the truth, I donโt think that was the reality. I think anything was going to be said to move me on.โ @9NewsMelb
— Alicia Muling (@AliciaMuling9) November 13, 2020
Adam Treloar has today confirmed the below - that Nathan Buckley told him senior Pies players wanted him to move on. โThat was told to me in no uncertain way. That hurt. To be told that when I donโt think thatโs the truth ... that hurts.โ https://t.co/EVyLeINMEa
— Sam Edmund (@Sammy__Edmund) November 13, 2020
