Western Bulldogs recruit Adam Treloar admits it was "hard not to take it personally" after he was forced out of Collingwood following a fallout with coach Nathan Buckley last year.
Treloar was moved on by the Magpies on the final day of the trade window in a move which later saw both clubs at a disagreement on how much of the midfielder's $4.5 million mega-deal the Bulldogs would take on.
At the time of the trade, rumours swirled that Treloar no longer had the support of his teammates, while fingers were also pointed out as his partner, Super Netball star Kim Ravaillion, with suggestions the pair's long-distance relationship due to their respective careers, would affect the midfielder's performance.
Opening up on his departure from the club, Treloar said he had no hard feelings towards his former teammates.
"I was moving on from a group of guys that I just love, I love them all. I cherished every moment of playing for that footy club. I loved playing for Collingwood, I loved playing for the fans there and I still thought I was going to be playing there," Treloar told The Age.
The 28-year-old has to date played 174 senior games for the Magpies and GWS Giants.
One of the issues Collingwood faced during last year's trade period was finding a team willing to take on Treloar's $900,000 per year contract for the next five years.
It's a hefty pay packet that puts Treloar among the game's elite earners. To complicate matters the deal was back-ended to fit within Collingwood's salary cap, which the midfielder said was part of the "hit" he had to take.
"I am exactly the same. What I would have been getting paid, [there were] only a certain few players [in the AFL] that would have been entitled to that," Treloar added.
"The reason why it was like that was because I had taken so much of a hit that I was owed that money."
The fallout from Treloar's contract hasn't been an easy one after Buckley revealed earlier this month that he had been unsuccessful in attempting to reach out to his former clubman.
"I've reached out to 'Ads' a couple of times and we haven't connected," Buckley told AFL Media.
Asked about the fallout and whether he would speak to Buckley any time soon, Treloar admits now isn't the time but said he hopes later on the pair will connect.
"I guess it was hard not to take it personally … I did, but it is kind of hard not to. You put anyone in that position; are they going to take it personally? I think they are," Treloar added.
"There will be a time, I have no doubt there will be a time when we eventually connect and chat and talk about things but for now I have clearly got things on my mind and things that I want to focus on and not really worry about that."
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