WESTERN Bulldogs star Adam Treloar expects to break bread with former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley in the future, following his acrimonious trade from the Magpies at the end of 2020.  

Despite having five years to run on a lucrative contract that had money shuffled down the road, Treloar was forced out of Collingwood against his wishes due to a salary cap squeeze that saw the Magpies also shed Jaidyn Stephenson and Tom Phillips for minimal returns.

Treloar and Buckley haven’t spoken since the turbulent Trade Period turned many Collingwood supporters against the club for the treatment of one its best players. 

But now more than 18 months on, their relationship is back in the spotlight again after Buckley started his new job at SEN and revealed his attempts to make peace with Treloar continue to go unanswered.

In an extensive and typically candid interview on AFL Daily, Treloar said he still deeply cares about Buckley and Collingwood despite everything that happened, hoping there is a time when everyone – the media and public – stops asking questions about their high-profile falling out.

"There definitely will be a time when we talk and it will be normal. We will probably brush over what happened, but it will be kind of how's your life going? Because I know there's been a bit happening in his life and there's been quite a bit happening in my life," Treloar told AFL.com.au this week.

"I just wish when I come up and when Bucks comes up to talk it wasn’t asked because there is going to be a time that we do talk because that love and care that I do have for him is always going to be there; it's never not going to be there. 

"Look past everything that’s happened – the trade and everything – there was a time when mentally I was really struggling and I will always appreciate the love and support and the care that he gave me. There will be a time when we talk. Hopefully when that time comes there will be no more questions because the questions are just unnecessary. I'm not salty towards anything; I love this footy club; I love the Collingwood footy club; I appreciate my time there.

"When the trade happened, I spoke out here [Whitten Oval] for the first time; I had nothing but love and care for Bucks and it is still there, obviously, because it was such a fond period that time I spent at the footy club that I look back on. I'm extremely grateful for being there. 

"The amount of support that he gave me – I had my challenges there; I had a tough couple of years there where I was mentally struggling and I was very open and honest with that and he was there – he was someone that I would go to and lean on and speak to. It was something that I loved and appreciated and cherished. 

"It's funny, people have been commenting and sending me private message saying: get over it, move on. I have moved on; I don’t hold any resentment; I don’t hold any grudges; there is nothing that I hold against anyone there. I love the footy club. I love everyone there. There's players there that I wish all the best. I still find myself watching from afar half barracking for them because there is a lot of me that has a connection there with them."

LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW IN THE PLAYER BELOW

Treloar has been one of the leading mental health advocates in the AFL since he courageously revealed how close he was to walking away from the game in 2018 due to a private battle with anxiety. 

The 29-year-old has spoken openly since he made waves with his vulnerability and says he still deals with mental health challenges to this day but has built a support structure around him to cope, which includes teammate Josh Dunkley and his psychologist Jacqui Louder, as well as family and friends. 

"It's always going to be there. It's something that you unofficially get diagnosed with is having trouble with anxiety and borderline depression and things that you do struggle with day to day," Treloar said.

"It's always there for me, it just depends on how I'm going with what matters to me. For example, footy really matters to me. If we're not going well or I'm not going well, or whatever it is, previously it would be a struggle for me to overcome and I'd go into my shell and just really struggle. But now with the support I've got around me, the structures I've put around myself for when I do go through a time where it's challenged, that’s what gets me through now.

"I do go through my challenges still; I have times when I'm up, times when I'm down, but with the support I've got around me it's much easier for me to get out of those headspaces and really look forward and get out of those lulls that I go through. 

"I'm a massive advocate for people who speak about their mental health and want to do something about it because it’s a massive part in our society, especially in men because they still think they have to be big macho men out there who have no feelings. It's so right to talk about your mental health and care about your own wellbeing."

Since arriving at the Western Bulldogs in October 2020, Treloar has spent most of the past year and a half living in a different state to his fiancé, Kim Ravaillion, and their daughter, Georgie, which has been made more complicated than first hoped due to snap lockdowns and travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The long-distance situation has allowed Ravaillion to return to the sunshine state and re-emerge as a star in Super Netball for the Queensland Firebirds, putting the 28-year-old back in the frame to be picked for the Australian Diamonds.

Treloar, like most in that situation, has found the situation challenging, especially when they could only spend two weeks together over the off-season rather than two months due to surgery and border closures. But the couple are prepared to make the personal sacrifice in the short-term to achieve their own goals while they are still physically capable of performing at the elite level.

"I do miss them, but this is only a short period in our life and in the long run its going to be the best for us with what we want to achieve in our respective sports. I have struggled, of course I have, I want to be able to see them, but I just don’t underestimate how important it is to have the people I've got around me," he said.

"This wasn’t a decision that was made overnight. This was something that we spoke about for three or four months, putting a plan in place to be able to support each other and have people around to support me and support her. 

"I knew Kim was doing what she wanted to do, back doing what she loves. She fell out of love with netball for a little bit. Her own career and the way its panned out – she's been at the top of her game for a very long time, she was regarded as the best centre in the world for a very, very long time and that’s saying something – for her to fall out of love at the age of 24, 25, for me to be able to help her and play for the Firebirds because that's where she always wanted to play, that was easy for me. 

"I have struggled but to be able to lean on the people that are extremely close to me and be a part of something that I'm truly grateful of being a part of, it hasn’t been that hard. I don’t take it for granted when I get to go and see them. It's only a small part in our life where we can look back and say we were able to do this and really blossom and get the most out of ourselves and then enjoy the rest of our lives when we get to be back together."

Treloar will return to action next Wednesday night in the Grand Final rematch against Melbourne at the MCG, still chasing a premiership medallion that has so far eluded him, a week before Ravaillion and the Thunderbirds kickstart their Super Netball campaign in Brisbane.